Want to start a charter school with me?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can think of a couple of things that would make recruiting volunteers easier.

#1 Think about what you'd like your school concept to be and put THAT out there. Just offering a Ward 1 school isn't much of a motivator. After all, if you're trying to escape the Ward 1 schools what would make your school very different? It's just another Ward 1 school after all... But a school that has focus that people can buy into may generate a lot of interest. What kind of school would you like to send your child to?

What about a Math & Music program? Commit to a curriculum with a strong math focus, and start teaching children to read music and play an instrument at an early age. I know I'd be VERY interested in a school that wanted to teach math well, and if the music portion helps create buy-in from the student perspective then so much the better. A lot of people recognize cognitive and neurological relationships between math and music. There are some interesting resources out there to draw inspiration from.

Or, what about a year-round school program? That's what they're doing at Haynes to great effect. Why re-invent the wheel if there's a concept out there that works well and the demand exceeds the supply?

#2 Add your support to a charter school that's just getting off the ground. Contact the PCSB and get information on the new charters that have been approved. Maybe one of them is a concept that you really like. Why not contact them and see if you can help? They surely have a lot of work to do and may very well welcome someone to help get it off the ground. Then you'd be in as part of the founding group and you could add your ideas to the program.

Math & Music is a really interesting idea. We'd certainly give it a look. And if you could partner with the Sitar Center (I have *no* idea if that would be feasible), you'd largely solve the facility and staffing problems that plague most charter start-ups in one fell swoop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have to weaken the curriculum? Does Latin weaken its cirriculum?

PP, is Latin academically challenging? Would a math & music immersion school be more or less challenging?

I think Washington Latin is supposed to be a pretty rigorous classical education. Very prep school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:#2 Add your support to a charter school that's just getting off the ground. Contact the PCSB and get information on the new charters that have been approved. Maybe one of them is a concept that you really like. Why not contact them and see if you can help? They surely have a lot of work to do and may very well welcome someone to help get it off the ground. Then you'd be in as part of the founding group and you could add your ideas to the program.

Good idea. Newbies to charters should note that the schools have not actually been approved yet. Applications have been accepted. The hearings are in March with decisions in April. So you need to move fast if you want to connect to one that would open in 2011.