PALM COAST, FL (January 18, 2013) — Today, Imagine School at Town Center received notification from the Florida Intentional Character Partnership (FICP) that the school is officially a 2013 Florida School of Character.

Imagine Town Center is well-known in Flagler County as a high performing charter school in large part for its academic growth and ‘A” rating from the Florida Department of Education. However, parents and educators recognize that academic success is heavily tied to positive character development, which teaches students the habits and skills needed to be successful in school and life.

Upon hearing the news, Principal Lisa O’Grady responded, “I am delighted that our staff was recognized in such a prestigious manner for their commitment to developing positive character development in the lives of nearly 900 students on our campus.”

“We pride ourselves on justice, integrity, and fun, and the ethical leaders we are building.  This accolade is overwhelming and proves what a wonderful, family oriented campus we have at Imagine Town Center,” states Tracey Toth, the campus’ Character Coach.

Vivan Delia, Director of FICP, said, “As the State School of Character sponsoring partner, the Florida International Character Partnership extends its sincerest congratulations to Imagine School at Town Center. . . We thank you for your commitment to implementing a quality character education initiative and helping develop good character in Florida’s youth.”

FICP will honor the SSOC winners at a ceremony in May. Imagine Town Center’s application will be forwarded to the Character Education Partnership to compete for the title of National School of Character (NSOC). National finalists will be notified in late February, may receive site visits in March, and official notification of status by late March.

Since 1998, the prestigious NSOC program has recognized schools for their outstanding character development of students and building school cultures that allow students to thrive socially and academically. CEP recognizes all schools that meet the standards set forth by CEP’s 11 Principles of Effective Character Education.

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Imagine Schools at Town Center is a public charter school currently educating nearly 900 Flagler County students in grades PreK-8. The school opened in Palm Coast in 2008 and is part of the Imagine Schools Non-Profit, a national 501©3 charter management organization. For more information about Imagine Town Center, visit www.imagineschooltowncenter.org.

FORT WAYNE, IN, Jan. 17, 2013

Combining the flexible pacing options of online curriculum with the support of a facilitator in the classroom, Imagine Master Academy will provide unmatched academic rigor with in-class support for students for improved comprehension.  This blended teaching approach will be piloted in an English Language Arts course for 20 students.

NNDS provides the nation’s leading online curriculum, Lincoln Interactive.  Used by thousands of students worldwide, Lincoln Interactive offers more than 250 courses and utilizes 21^st century technology to deliver the course content.  Lincoln Interactive curriculum allows an innovative learning experience personalized for each student based on his or her wants and needs.

Executive Vice President Jason Bryant remarked, “Imagine Schools and the local board of Imagine MASTer Academy are always looking for ways to provide unique student focused initiatives.  Each student learns differently and the blended curriculum pilot with NNDS is another opportunity to meet the needs of our students and families we serve”.

Students and families involved in the pilot program will have multiple opportunities to provide advice and feedback throughout this experience, according to Assistant School Leader Brad Crozier.

“We hope to deepen our understanding of the online curriculum and the benefits it can offer our students,” said Crozier.  “Our intent is always to provide the best educational experience for our students, knowing that individual needs differ from student to student.  We believe this partnership will keep us on the path to do just that!”

Families interested in learning more about the opportunities available at Imagine Master Academy can contact the school at 260-420-8395, or online at www.imaginemasteracademy.com.

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Imagine Master Academy is a public charter school currently educating over 600 students in grades K-8. The school opened in Fort Wayne in 2007 and is part of the Imagine Schools family, a network of 70 charter schools serving nearly 38,000 students nationwide. For more information about Imagine Master Academy, visit www.imaginemasteracademy.com.

COLUMBIA (WACH) -  Nina Strigle teaches fourth and fifth grade students at Imagine Columbia Leadership Academy.

After December’s school shooting in Newtown Connecticut, Strigle knew her new lesson plan would be teaching students to be ready for emergencies.

“It can happen in any school district or any grade level. My first thing was we came together as staff and wanted to figure out what we needed to do,” said Nina Strigle.

On Friday, Columbia police were working with students and teachers about what to do during a dangerous situation.

“They will trick you into thinking there is a fire and you have to get out,” said one officer working to teach the school the Standard Response Protocol.

The Standard Response Protocol is a nationally used program that is based off the response different situations require .

“Lock down, lock out, you know, outta sight, lights out; we wanted to make it simple, specifically for the students of the age group that’s usually in elementary schools to make sure they didn’t have to think twice when a situation happens,” said Interim Police Chief Ruben Santiago.

The program teaches what to do in case of a lockout, lockdown and evacuation.　

“The biggest thing they kept saying was to keep silent,” said Strigle.

Fourth grader Kenniyah Sampson experienced a lockdown at her old school, and the program’s simple words and easy to remember instructions are directions she’s never forgotten. She says she knows how important they are to follow.

“We have to make sure the light are turned off the door is locked and we are in a quiet safe corner… The teacher has to make sure her phone is on vibrate so the bad person doesn’t hear it,” said  Sampson.

“I’m here to protect them not only to just give them the knowledge, but i’m here to make them a better student and to make sure they are safe,” added Strigle.

A growing number of Western Pennsylvania students attending taxpayer-funded charter schools is changing public education, as parents take advantage of school choice.

“We‘re competing with the cyber schools, and we think we can do it better,” Joseph Clapper said, superintendent at Quaker Valley School District, which draws students from the Sewickley valley. “These are interesting times. It is important for Quaker Valley and, I believe, all public schools, to be open-minded about the way we deliver curriculum to our 21st-century students.”

The number of students choosing a charter school in 23 western Pennsylvania districts has increased from 1,500 in 2008-09 to 2,300 this year — or by 52 percent, according to a survey in October. Trib Total Media conducted the survey to determine how many students are choosing charter schools, and why.

Since the Legislature approved charter schools in 1997 to give parents an alternative to their home districts, enrollment has increased in these publicly funded but privately operated schools regulated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Some schools offer a specific focus, such as on the arts, or on business. The schools receive a payment for each student from the district where the child lives, also known as “tuition.”

Nationwide, about 40 states have rules permitting charter schools. There are 175 charter schools in Pennsylvania; 16 of those schools offer online-only classes.

But the schools have been a lightning rod for criticism, as some districts lose millions of dollars per year with the number of students going to charters. Critics also say that the schools are academically untested and do not have to follow the same regulations as traditional public schools.

“Not all charter schools are successes,” said Butch Santicola, spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the largest teachers union in the state. “Some are doing a good job. But what has happened is that (public schools) have sat back and been in defensive mode.”

Santicola pointed to how many charter schools struggle to meet state testing standards and how some cyber charter schools have graduation rates as low as 32 percent; to meet state standards, 85 percent of students must graduate. In 2011-12, 112 of the 156 charter schools statewide that took standardized tests met state standards.

As parents continue to exercise school choice, public schools are changing how they educate students.

“Charter schools are a game changer, no doubt,” said Joseph Domaracki, interim associate dean for the college of education and educational technology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. “Everybody that‘s leaving a public school and going to a charter is doing it for a particular reason.

“There could be as many reasons as there are kids leaving.”

Charter schools have made public school officials rethink how they present education, Clapper said. His district, which educates students from the Sewickley area, responded by opening its own cyber program in 2010, QV Academy.

This year, Quaker Valley has more students enrolled in its QV e-learning program than it does in charter schools. The program was spurred by a demand for more varied learning opportunities. Some of the 75 students enrolled in the program attend classes exclusively online, while others take a mix of classes at the district and online.

Similar programs are in place in Norwin, North Hills, Gateway and North Allegheny, while Franklin Regional and other districts offer a limited number of classes online.

Domaracki attributed the move to a way for districts to recoup some of the students – and money – they‘ve lost because of the competition.

“That‘s what they‘re being forced to do,” Domaracki said. “Public schools have to do more to maintain their populations. It‘s a reality.”

Even though classes are offered online, most charter schools operate in buildings – and at times, such as is the case with Propel Pitcairn, in a building that once educated students for the same district with which it now competes.

Propel operates nine schools in Allegheny County that educate children in kindergarten through grade 12.

Superintendent Carol Wooten said the schools, the first of which opened 10 years ago, have strong academics, but that isn‘t what always draws parents.

“Our parents tell us they come to Propel because it‘s very safe and nurturing – they don‘t immediately start talking about academics,” Wooten said. “We opened to provide a choice of high-performing schools for parents who otherwise wouldn‘t have a choice.”

Ivelisse Torres of Penn Hills wanted choice when her daughter Chloe entered kindergarten last year. Torres initially wanted to send her daughter to a Christian school, but the move would be cost-prohibitive. She didn‘t want to send her to Penn Hills, where her daughter would be in a school with 700 other children.

She began hearing about a new charter school, Imagine Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship. The school offered similar things to Propel but had a twist in the curriculum. Children learn early on about how money and business work through a “microsociety” where children perform different jobs, such as working with animals or creating puppet shows.

“This was something I was not going to experience at (Penn Hills),” Torres said. “Our first year, she did phenomenal. I feel like a charter school gives us public education with a private school feel.”

In some districts, the number of students attending a charter school actually has dropped during the past five years.

At Franklin Regional in Murrysville, about 17 percent fewer students are attending a charter school than five years ago. Superintendent Emery D‘Arcangelo attributes that to the programs that his and many other high-achieving districts offer.

That‘s what officials at Gateway hope will happen. This year, about 100 more students left the district for charter schools, but another 100 who had intended to enroll elsewhere came back after the district began offering full-day kindergarten, school board member Skip Drumheller said.

Part of the increase in students leaving this year is because a new charter school, Propel Pitcairn, opened in the former Pitcairn Elementary. The school board closed the school last year to save money, and several months later Propel acquired the property and opened a charter school there. Students first began attending classes there in August.

“The biggest investment we can make is in our kids,” Drumheller said.

“We cannot afford to throw away another generation of kids to poor education and poor job outlooks.”

Drumheller said children will learn more about the world by attending larger, more diverse schools.

The Gateway School District has about 3,600 students. He said officials will continue to fight for every local student to graduate with a Gateway diploma.

“You can‘t continue to do what you‘ve done in the past in these changing circumstances. You can‘t keep trying to do the same things and get the same outcome,” Drumheller said.

BOYNTON BEACH —

The assembly was an Academic Achievement Celebration that was held to recognize and honor students at Imagine who achieved academic progress gains of one year or more, during the past year. An earlier celebration was held last Wednesday for students at Imagine Great Western Academy.

The opening greeting for the celebration events was given by Dennis Bakke and his wife, Eileen, co-founders of the Imagine Schools organization. The guest speaker was Stanley Jackson, former quarterback and captain of the 1996-1997 Ohio State University football team that won the 1997 Rose Bowl. He was also recently appointed by Governor Kasich to serve on the Ohio State Board of Education.

In encouraging speeches, Jackson shared personal stories about perseverance and overcoming struggles as a child growing up in New Jersey. He congratulated all of the students on their academic success and inspired them to strive for their own goals and dreams. After the assemblies, the students eagerly waited in line for autographs and photos with one of their role models.

“You are all dominators,” Jackson praised. “And you are enrolled at the perfect school right now. It is called Imagine Schools, and if you want to be a doctor, or a football player, or whatever your dream is – if you can imagine it, then you can accomplish it.”

Many students at Imagine Schools begin their year at a grade level that is two to four years academically behind where they are expected to be, which is often attributable to falling behind at the student’s previous school.

When measuring academic achievement, Imagine Schools places important emphasis on same student learning gains. Teachers gauge students’ progress by testing them at the beginning of the school year and again at the end, allowing the school to get an accurate picture of how much students have progressed in one year.

Imagine Schools is taking accountability for a brighter future by recognizing the accelerated growth of these students who had the significant achievement of making greater than a year of academic progress at Imagine after being left behind in their former schools.

About Imagine Schools

Imagine Schools is a unique organization that operates 71 public charter schools across the nation, including 17 Ohio campuses and six in the Columbus area. The non-profit organization serves more than 40,000 students each year, making strides to educate children in a welcoming and nurturing environment. Imagine Great Western Academy is located at 310 North Wilson Road in Columbus and currently educates students in grades K-8.  Imagine Groveport Community School is located at 4485 South Hamilton Rd in Groveport and currently educates students in grades K-8.

About Stanley Jackson

Stanley Jackson was quarterback and captain of the 1996-1997 Ohio State University football team that won the 1997 Rose Bowl. Following his career at Ohio State, Jackson played professional football for four years in the Canadian Football League and is now a color analyst for the Ohio State Buckeyes pre-game and post-game show on 610AM WTVN. Jackson was recently appointed by Governor Kasich to serve on the Ohio State Board of Education.

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Fry’s and 3TV announced the winner of the Trim the Table School Challenge: Imagine Schools West Gilbert

PHOENIX – Collecting more than 7,800 cans of green beans helped clinch the Trim the Table School Challenge title for the students of Imagine Schools of West Gilbert. The school was one of 30 schools across the state that participated in the campaign designed to get schools excited about helping other Arizona kids in need.

We recently visited Imagine Schools of West Gilbert to award them their prize – a $500 Fry’s gift card and $500 check from 3TV.

Donations for our Arizona’s Family Holiday Food Drive in partneship with Fry’s are still being accepted at Fry’s Food Stores across the state.

Lindsay Omlor, Assistant Principal and Title I Coordinator at Imagine on Broadway, had this to say: “In order to ensure our student’s personal success, we’ve created an individualized plan to best meet each child’s academic needs. This plan is founded on the partnership our staff, students, and parents, and all stakeholders are accountable in order to guarantee student success!”

Parents were informed of how students’ individual needs were going to be met through three different avenues. Parents were given information on tutoring groups, daily at home academic packets, and customized academic projects designed to enrich and challenge students. Parents left feeling encouraged that Imagine Schools on Broadway is taking a proactive approach to educating their students and developing individualized academic plans for them based on personal needs.

After the meeting, many parents shared the same enthusiasm, including the father of a third grade student. “This is great; it’s fantastic! This is what our kids need, and I am really excited because I know it’s going to help.”

As a public charter school, Imagine Schools on Broadway strives to offer parents and students an alternative to traditional public schools, with a heightened focus on individualized instruction and character building. “At the end of the day, our school is motivated by one thing: our kids. The end goal in all of this is to better serve our students. As long as we are doing everything that we can do to grow our kids, and partner with our parents, then we are fulfilling our purpose,” concluded Omlor.

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Imagine Schools on Broadway is public charter school in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which educates students in grades K-5. Imagine Schools on Broadway partners with parents and guardians to educate all children by providing high quality education in order to prepare students for lives of leadership, accomplishment, and exemplary character.

For Immediate Release

Contact: Lindsay Omlor

260-458-8395 ext. 214

Lindsay.Omlor@imagineschools.com

FIRESTONE, Colo. — A retired U.S. Marine, and father, was moved to stand guard at his daughters’ school Thursday, in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut last Friday.

The oil worker put on his fatigues and gave everyone at Imagine Charter School an added sense of security and safety.

Jared Vejrostek stood watch outside the school’s entrance for seven hours to guarantee a safe last day of school before the holidays for everyone at the school.

“Monday was real tough,” Vejrostek says. “You sit there and you fight with yourself… how am I supposed to be able to take my kids to school right now?”

Jared heard about a few other Marines across the country who were standing guard at their kids’ schools, and he thought it was a good way for him to contribute something meaningful.

With his daughters’ school’s permission and a visitors pass but no weapon in hand, Vejrostek stood watch. “It would be a good thing to just ease their minds off everything else, let them have that peace of mind so they can enjoy this day before the holidays.”

For Vejrostek it’s a way to get a conversation about school security started. “It’s unfortunate that one of the things that we don’t secure in this world is our kids, and I wanted to bring some light to that.”

He hopes the gesture gets the ball rolling toward some sort of a solution. “There’s so many parents out there that want something… anything to be done.”

He got a warm welcome from the school, and the approval of his daughters.

Imagine Charter School has security measures in place, but after what happened in Newtown, he felt like he had to do something.

And so he did.