charter schools for special populations?

[Anonymous]

I don't know much about charter schools, but I was just wondering.

Do charter schools in general to be open to every child, by lottery if oversubscribed? Or can there be charter schools for special populations? For example, by entrance exam or portfolio (such as for permorming arts?) Only for children with learning disabilities? Only for kids identified as gifted? Only for kids identified as both learning disabled AND gifted? That kind of thing.

[Anonymous]

I think the SAIL (sp?) school is for learning disabled kids. I believe part their strategy is to teach through the arts and hands-on experience. Although do double-check me!

[Anonymous]

I have heard of a charter for special needs kids, forget the name. On the gifted end, charters must admit by lottery, cannot have a entrance exam requirement, and must provide special education services to all kids admitted by lottery. Some schools, like Washington Latin, self-select the population interested in applying by making parents sign a statemnet that they'll support 2 hours homework per night, emphasizing a rigorous curriculum. But, they can't have an entrance exam to screen for academically qualified applicants. And they must meet the needs of special ed that are admitted.

[Anonymous]

Bridges PCS http://www.bridgespcs.org/ is an inclusive preschool and pre-K charter school for ages 3-5.

[Anonymous]

Charter schools must admit by lottery, and can not give preference to children in any category other than siblings, children of staff members, and children of board members or founders. Some charter schools serve populations that are "self-selecting". For example, the Maya Angelou charter school serves children who have struggled in their previous setting and may have been adjudicated. They don't worry too much about families who don't face those issues choosing to enroll their children there. Similarly there are charter schools who aim primarily who have dropped out or are seeking a GED or training in a trade.

There are also charter schools in the city who make it their mission to serve children with disabilities, such as SAIL and Bridges. In both of these cases, however, the population is self-selecting. A higher percentage of families of children with disabilities choose these schools, however, they both also serve children who are typically developing.

The only charter school that has an exception to this policy is St. Colletta's school which serves children with severe intellectual disabilities who often also have secondary conditions. They worked out a special deal with the city, which no other school has been able to do. I believe that they were chartered under the old "DCPS charter board", which no longer charters schools. The PCSB, currently the only organization able to grant charters in the city has made it clear that they are committed to ensuring that all charter schools have open enrollment or use a lottery.

[Anonymous]

All the charters have lotteries, but they still appeal to different populations which tends to have a self-selecting effect. There are the language immersion schools (DC Bilingual - Spanish, Elsie Stokes - French & Spanish, Latin American Montessori Bilingual - Spanish, and Washington Yu Ying - Chinese). There are also schools that follow the CORE curriculum (Potomac Lighthouse) or Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound (Capitol City and Two Rivers) or an arts-infused curriculum (W.E.J Doar). One is a boarding school (SEED) and another is all-girls (Excel Academy). There are literally dozens of charter schools and they all get choose their own focus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard of a charter for special needs kids, forget the name. On the gifted end, charters must admit by lottery, cannot have a entrance exam requirement, and must provide special education services to all kids admitted by lottery. Some schools, like Washington Latin, self-select the population interested in applying by making parents sign a statemnet that they'll support 2 hours homework per night, emphasizing a rigorous curriculum. But, they can't have an entrance exam to screen for academically qualified applicants. And they must meet the needs of special ed that are admitted.

The school is not self-selecting--they are asking parents to consider that if they crave an 'academically rigorous school' they realize beforehand that it will come with more rigorous hw. No charter is allowed to 'select' by law. This is actually unfortunate, both on the special needs and gifted end of the spectrum. Predominantly special needs charters that may be well-equipped to help these children are held to the same AYP standards as other schools and closed when they fail--even if they have done amazing work; and schools with gifted aims end up providing academic support to children who care (and whose parents care) and also to children whose parents are oblivious to the school's mission and don't back up the school's efforts. I wish these parents would 'self-select'.

[Anonymous]

What is the reason that charters cannot select their students by some established criteria? Is it a federal law?

[Anonymous]

It can't be a federal law. It must be a state one. Because here's a charter school in Delaware that has fairly rigorous entrance criteria:

http://www.charterschool.org/admissions/admissionsPolicy.htm

[Anonymous]

I wish we could change it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard of a charter for special needs kids, forget the name. On the gifted end, charters must admit by lottery, cannot have a entrance exam requirement, and must provide special education services to all kids admitted by lottery. Some schools, like Washington Latin, self-select the population interested in applying by making parents sign a statemnet that they'll support 2 hours homework per night, emphasizing a rigorous curriculum. But, they can't have an entrance exam to screen for academically qualified applicants. And they must meet the needs of special ed that are admitted.

The school is not self-selecting--they are asking parents to consider that if they crave an 'academically rigorous school' they realize beforehand that it will come with more rigorous hw. No charter is allowed to 'select' by law. This is actually unfortunate, both on the special needs and gifted end of the spectrum. Predominantly special needs charters that may be well-equipped to help these children are held to the same AYP standards as other schools and closed when they fail--even if they have done amazing work; and schools with gifted aims end up providing academic support to children who care (and whose parents care) and also to children whose parents are oblivious to the school's mission and don't back up the school's efforts. I wish these parents would 'self-select'.

We're at Washington Yu Ying and there's definitely self-selection there. Obviously the school can't (and shouldn't) ask you to leave, but we've seen families choose to go because they felt that the challenge was too much for their child.