Over the past few years, Prince George’s County has quietly amassed the largest cluster of charter schools in the Washington suburbs.

Three of the independently run, publicly funded schools opened this school year in Prince George’s, bringing the county’s total to seven. That is the highest concentration in Maryland outside of Baltimore. The growth is a sign that charter schools are a key component in Prince George’s Superintendent William R. Hite Jr.’s efforts to expand the county’s menu of education options.

“I support the expansion of quality schools, that’s regardless of the type of school,” Hite said. “It’s all about more choices for our parents.”

Although the charter sector is booming in the District, Northern Virginia has no charter schools. Montgomery County approved one last year, but it is not yet in operation. A few other charter schools are scattered in Frederick, Anne Arundel and St. Mary’s counties.

Hite, meanwhile, is scouting for more. . .

Prince George’s officials said the modest growth of charters in the county is a response to charter applications and the desires of parents.

“If [applicants] come up with an idea that parents want and they can help children achieve, parents deserve that option,” said school board Chairman Verjeana M. Jacobs (District 5). . .

The three charter schools that have been in running in the county for a few years have had mixed results, according to state records. Imagine Foundation met “adequate yearly progress” standards last year under the No Child Left Behind law and had higher pass rates in reading and math than the county average on the Maryland School Assessments.

Excel Academy and Turning Point Academy fell short of adequate progress under the law. Turning Point’s pass rates were comparable to the county average. Excel’s pass rate in reading was comparable to the county’s, but its pass rate in math was lower.

Jacobs said as long as an applicant adheres to the requirements of the Maryland Department of Education in its application, “we can’t deny the opportunity.”

Hite said charters and some regular public schools with special themes known as “concept schools” can help improve the overall quality of the county system. Those schools that lose enrollment, he said, should face questions about how to get better.

“We can look at it as a market-driven model,” Hite said. “If I’m a school principal and I’m losing my population to another school, it’s incumbent upon me to improve my programs.”

Charter schools can be a mystery to most parents. Bracy Wilson, the former Stonebridge Church pastor who has championed charter schools since helping his dad open the Life School in Dallas, gave the Rotary Club of McKinney a way to understand what options can be made available for students and parents outside traditional public schools.

His talk on Friday at Rick’s Chophouse at the Grand Hotel comes as plans are under way for the Imagine International Academy of North Texas to open a charter school in McKinney this fall.

ACADEMICS

Wilson, who founded HelpCharters, LLC to offer consulting and management of charter schools in Texas and beyond, said that charter schools must meet state academic requirements while also serving their own educational mission.
“Charter schools are state funded,” Wilson said. “They have no local funding. They are not religious schools. Charter schools are not voucher schools.”

Wilson said that unlike magnet schools, charter schools don’t pick and choose students.

“Charter schools have to enroll all students,” said Wilson, who is not affiliated with the Imagine Academy that will open in McKinney in August. “By law, charter schools provide for and accommodate students. Charter schools are mission focused.”

His dad’s school, which started in Dallas, focuses on building leadership skills and character. Wilson said his mission to create charter schools came about when he saw that about 10 percent of public school seventh and eighth graders drop out. He said that about 50 percent of students in 7th through 12th grades are dropping out of state schools.

“That means that in 10 to 15 years, they will be dependent on us to support them.”

Wilson’s firm has started six schools in Texas in the last two years and will launch five more in 2012 in Dallas and Fort Worth. In 2013, 11 more are planned for Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, Houston and Terrell.

Wilson lives in McKinney with his wife Nadine and two children, who attend school in the McKinney ISD at Minshew Elementary. He is running for the House District 70 seat for state representative against McKinney’s Scott Sanford, who was also at the Rotary meeting. Sanford’s son Ryan attends Baylor after graduating from McKinney Boyd. Sanford’s daughter Lauren attends McKinney Christian Academy.

Sanford, a CPA from Baylor who is married to Shelly, serves as executive pastor at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church.

CHARTER SCHOOL IN MCKINNEY

At 2860 Virginia Parkway, the Imagine International Academy of North Texas, will open a public tuition-free charter school in McKinney.

Imagine Schools plans to serve 950 students in grades K-9 for the 2012-2013 school year. The academy will be offering an “academically rigorous college preparatory curriculum based upon the International Baccalaureate (IB) educational framework.”

The McKinney charter academy will accept students eligible to attend public school in McKinney ISD, Celina ISD, Frisco ISD, Princeton ISD, Prosper ISD, Lovejoy ISD, Allen ISD and Melissa ISD.

The academy received approval to open from the Texas Education Agency in May of 2011.

The Academy will be seeking authorization from the International Baccalaureate Organization to provide the IB Primary Years Programme for students in grades K-5, the IB Middle Years Programme for students in grades 6-10, and the IB Diploma Programme for students in grades 11-12.

For more information, visit www.imaginenorthtexas.org or email info@imaginenorthtexas.org.

FRISCO CHARTER SCHOOL

As a public school option, Leadership Prep School at 8500 Teel Parkway in Frisco provides a free-tuition school with open enrollment (first-come-first-served). It will receive funding from the state and therefore will be accountable to state policies and the charter itself. For more information, go to leadershipprepschool.com.

The Frisco school champions parent partnership, leadership development, academics, creativity and excellence.

ACROSS THE STATE

According to the Texas Charter Schools Association, public charter schools vary in mission and model and serve a diverse range of students. An Association survey of its membership indicated that 27 percent of Texas charter schools serve high school students that have dropped out, or are at-risk of dropping out of school. Additionally, 36 percent focus on college preparation, 29 percent serve a specialized mission, and 8 percent are educating students in residential treatment or juvenile justice program.

LIFE SCHOOL

A TEA charter was granted on March 6, 1998, and Life School of Dallas became a free tuition, open enrollment charter public school on Aug. 12, 1998. Dr. Tom Wilson, founder and Chancellor of Life SchoolS, now operates five campuses. Life School’s enrollment has increased from 266 students to more than 3,700 students in the current year.

Life School seeks to develop leaders with the necessary skills to achieve success in the 21st century. Through character training, strong academics and parent involvement Life School will be successful in fulfilling its mission.

Wilson’s Life School encourages involvement by parents and has a point system for parents. The school prides itself on saying “it is not a private school but sure does fell like one.”

All school campuses are “Recognized” based on TEA Spring 2010 test results. Life School student composite test scores exceeded those of many surrounding public school districts on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests last year.

“Lake County Schools’ poor showing in district and school rankings has the teachers’ union asking for more planning and teaching time, while the superintendent says the district has been proactive to make improvements since last summer.

In a statement to the school board on Monday, B (CQ) Grassel, president of the Lake County Education Association, criticized Gov. Rick Scott and Education Commissioner Gerald Robinson for overemphasizng FCAT scores as ‘the only measure of quality education.’

‘The governor and commissioner undermine deep teaching by focusing on FCAT scores alone,’ Grassel said. ‘Every teacher in Lake County is going to be judged based on the FCAT scores of their students.’

In rankings released in January by the state Department of Education, Lake County earned a ‘B’ and tied for 44th out of the state’s 67 school districts, based on scores from the 2011 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test for reading, math and science. The district’s highest ranked school was Imagine Schools at South Lake, at 115th for elementary/middle combination schools.

But districts found out their scores and grades last summer, and the rankings merely represent a repackaging of the information, said Chris Patton, district communications officer.

‘It was that data that we took to heart right then and there at that moment in time, and took steps to put some strategies in place to address that,’ Superintendent Susan Moxley said. ‘We did not wait for rankings to come out.’

‘We take our progress very seriously,’ Moxley said, noting that the district immediately began making action plans, setting targets to become an ‘A’ district, having each school develop improvement plans, and issuing progress reports.

But Grassel said the district must play by the state’s rules.

‘If right now, the emphasis is on FCAT scores, then let teachers do nothing but plan and teach,’ she said. ‘Teachers are asking for that.’

Grassel said she e-mailed 1,500 district teachers asking two questions: What do your students need in the classroom, and what do you need for your students in the classroom? She estimated that the number of responses from groups and individuals, as well as phone calls and face-to-face responses, was in the low hundreds.

The teachers asked to have their entire workdays devoted to planning and teaching, Grassel said.

Saying that teachers are spread too thin in their responsibilities, Grassel recommended to the board that duties such as bus and lunch duty, hall monitoring, and all non-planning and non-teaching meetings be eliminated. She said early-release Wednesdays should be restructured to better utilize time.

Grassel noted that the union works collaboratively with the school board to reach the same goals, but she does not expect the strategies to solve all problems.

School board Chairwoman Rosanne Brandeburg said she appreciated Grassel’s initiative, and that the board will review her recommendations to see if any can be implemented.

‘We do need to get feedback from teachers, because they’re the ones on the front line in the classroom,’ Brandeburg said.”

“The Imagine Schools eighth grade class went to Tallahassee. After the bus trip we arrived at Tallahassee on Friday. We visited a museum before going to visit the Governor. We went to the capitol and the Governor’s Aid came and met us. He led us through the building and led us to the Governor where we got to meet him. Then we went to the old capitol and got to watch voting on a bill. We took a tour of the Governor’s mansion, and then went to the Fun Station afterwards. After that, we were in the hotel until the next morning. After breakfast, we visited Florida State University for a campus tour lead by Mr. McFeaters. We got to see the campus and where things were. Afterwards, we went to Wakulla Springs and enjoyed wild life and a boat tour of the spring. Then we took off on our ride home.”

As board chair of Imagine Southeast, an outstanding public charter school, I take exception to the January 26 article “Study: Help or shut schools in poor D.C. areas, add charters” and the IFF study it reports.

IFF assessed schools based on proficiency test results rather than measuring what students learn at the school. For a new school, proficiency tests measure the quality of previous schools more than the current school. Students entering our school average 17% proficiency in reading and math, and test results show double-digit growth from that level. Learning gains of the students have been impressive each of the school’s three years.

Further, IFF uses a 2009 baseline to forecast 2016 results. For Imagine Southeast, conclusions made based upon a 26-student baseline led to the suggestion of closing what is now a 550 student school!

The Post should have mentioned the criteria used by the charter schools’ governing body and how it judges the unfairly maligned schools.  Unlike IFF, the D.C. Public Charter School Board’s rating system includes student-learning gains, which takes into account the student’s proficiency when they enter the school.  PCSB has rated Imagine Southeast in its middle tier, focused on improvement with no consideration of closing.

“SARASOTA COUNTY – Imagine School in North Port is ready for some football.  Friday the school became the first charter school in the area with plans to field a football team.  It would also become just the second high school football program in the county’s largest city.

Parents, teachers, community leaders and school officials came out to cheer, excited they say for what will become the city’s second high school football team. ‘It’s pretty unique at least in this area for a relatively small school such as ours to be thinking big along the lines of a full fledged football program,’ says Principal Justin Matthews.

The charter school began five years ago as a K-5, then expanded to K-8.  This year was the high school’s first; 150 9th graders took over a former business park along Toledo Blade Boulevard.  ’We have a need for options and choices in this community. It is not just a want,’ Says North Port City Commissioner David Garofalo.

The school is expected to top out at 600 students as the grade levels grow.  North Port high currently has more than 2,300. ‘It’s exciting when you have a program that come aboard that offers football. I think some people see it as competing against your own teams in your own city but I see it as another choice and another option. Maybe do something different.’

The school also introduced their new head coach, Jeppe Bennetsen, who has had great successes at the youth level in the area, bringing the North Port Huskies to a national championship game this year.  ’They are so dedicated to education – a 2.5 grade point average; a little higher than most schools.  The opportunity to coach here is just a no-brainer.’

While enrollment will stay small at the school, they may actually have one big advantage.  Without reason, students and student athletes can come to the publicly-funded school from anywhere in Sarasota County — even students from Charlotte County.

So far, a handful of high-profile athletes who have grown up in the city — which now has 12,000 school-aged kids — have left to play for other local programs.  Bennetsen says they want to change that.  ’We have dominated at the youth level.  Anybody within the two county areas. The advantage is we get to keep those kids right here in house.’

It’s a move that will take time, but ultimately could shake things up when it comes to local high school sports.  ’When you have a community growing you need more than one.  You need multiple things.  I think at the end of the day it is going to make this community better,’ says Matthews.

The first year high school already has nine other sports teams competing.  They plan to start football spring practice this year and field a JV team in the 2012 season.  The following year they hope to have both a JV and varsity team.”

Article published on Feb. 1, 2012 by Tampa Bay Online

LAND O’ LAKES – Parents and students in Pasco County who wonder how their schools stack up against others in the state can now find out.

The Florida Department of Education released lists this week that rank every public school in the state.

Pasco’s highest ranking schools within each category were Wesley Chapel Elementary, Pine View Middle, Mitchell High and Imagine School at Land O’ Lakes, a charter school.

Not everyone thinks the rankings – based largely on Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results – are meaningful or even a good idea.

Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, said in a prepared statement that the rankings are a misuse of FCAT, which he said is supposed to be a diagnostic tool that helps teachers and parents spot student weaknesses so they can improve student performance. . .

Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson has a different take on it.

“Measuring a school’s ability to boost academic achievement helps ensure that we are providing a high-quality education for our students,” Robinson said in a prepared statement.

“Having the data available in an easy-to-use format allows parents, educators, and business and community leaders to view the information and make decisions about how they can be involved in education decisions in their local communities.”

But the rankings are based on information that was already available to school districts because FCAT scores and schools grades were released previously, said Summer Romagnoli, spokeswoman for the Pasco County School District.

So essentially there is nothing the rankings can tell district officials that they didn’t already know, she said.

The district already makes use of FCAT data to monitor how well schools are performing and where resources need to be allocated, Romagnoli said.

“Our school district is making progress and we are moving in the right direction,” she said.

Pasco’s highest-ranked elementary school, Wesley Chapel, an A school, came in at No. 179 out of 1,795 elementary schools in Florida.

Pasco’s lowest ranked elementary was Gulf Highlands, an F school, which came in at No. 1,789.

Pine View Middle, an A school, ranked No. 58 out of 583 middle schools statewide. At the low end for Pasco was Stewart Middle, a C school, at No. 470.

Mitchell High School, Pasco’s top-ranked high school and an A school, was No. 72 out of 404 high schools on the state list. Zephyrhills High, a C school, was lowest ranked at No. 320.

Fivay High School, which opened in 2010, was on a separate list for high schools that haven’t been around long enough to have all the criteria that factor into the high school rankings. Fivay, a D school, was No. 28 out of 37 schools on that list.

Four Pasco charter schools were ranked among 194 schools that are combination elementary/middle schools. They were Imagine School at Land O’ Lakes, No. 28; Academy at the Farm, No. 38; Dayspring Academy, No. 49; and Athenian Academy of Pasco County, No. 124.

The complete lists can be viewed at www.fldoe.org/Ranking/Schools.

The numerical rankings are based on a point system calculated by using FCAT scores. The total is the sum of student scores for reading, math, science and writing; learning gains in reading and math; and scores for learning gains in reading and math among the lowest 25 percent of students in each school.

High school scores have additional criteria. Those are graduation rates; postsecondary readiness; and student participation and performance in accelerated coursework, such as Advance Placement.

The school-by-school rankings came a week after the state ranked all 67 school districts. Pasco ranked No. 34.

“Imagine Charter School at Weston, one of Broward’s best performing public schools for nearly a decade, is near the top of new rankings out Monday for Florida’s public schools.

The popular, 900-student school is tied at No. 3 on a list of the state’s more than 1,800 elementary schools. The school district also had three schools in the Top 20 in the high school category.

Pompano Beach High ranked No. 13, a boost for a highly-regarded school that this month lost its A grade for not making enough gains among its lowest-performing students in reading.

Assistant Principal Lori Carlson called the ranking a much better representation of the magnet school’s standing.

‘It is enlightening,’ she said. ‘We don’t mind being on the top of those charts.’

The school rankings come a week after the state released its first-ever ranking of its 67 school districts. Broward County came in at No. 26.

The latest ranking lists schools in five categories: elementary, middle, high, combination elementary/middle and combination middle/high.

The school rankings are based on points earned in Florida’s school grading formula, which grades schools A to F. Many people don’t realize that schools also get numerical scores.

So for elementary and middle schools, the rankings are based on student performance and improvement on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. For high schools, they are based half on FCAT scores and half on other factors such as high school graduation rates and student success in advanced classes.

But these rankings concern some educators, who say it does not take into account how factors such as poverty can impact students’ academic performance.

‘School excellence must be measured in multiple ways,’ said Elizabeth Kennedy, principal of Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, which is No. 4 among state middle schools. ‘For example, this ranking does not take into account our excellence in the arts. Comparing schools to one another also does not take into account the unique populations of each school.’

The state ranking database does list the percentage of poor children at each school, though that data was not part of the calculations. It shows that most of the struggling schools enroll a large percentage of youngsters from low-income families, though it also points out that some schools with lots of poor kids did well.

The new rankings were an idea promoted by Gov. Rick Scott and Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson.

‘Floridians care about education and it is critical that our students have access to world-class schools that will give them a pathway to a successful career,’ Scott said in a prepared statement. ‘Measuring each school’s performance helps gauge our progress toward that goal.’

The Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union, called the rankings ‘misguided’ and said they mostly measured family income. . .

But Robinson said the state put out the rankings, which are based on already available data, to help the public help public education.

‘Having the data available in an easy-to-use format allows parents, educators, and business and community leaders to view the information and make decisions about how they can be involved in education decisions in their local communities,’ he said in a statement.”

mjfreeman@tribune.com or 561-243-6642