12-09-2008 6:57 PM — An appeals process has paved the way for Nashville to gain a new charter school, and for Nashville's first charter school to receive clearance for an expansion to middle school grades.
The new charter school, Global Academy, will serve students in grades kindergarten throughout eight. Plans are in place for the school to serve as an affiliate of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Carol Swann, chair of MNPS's charter school application review committee, said the school shows "incredible promise." School leaders are looking to situate Global Academy in North or East Nashville.
Nashville's oldest charter school, Smithson-Craighead, has been approved for an expansion to serving grades five through eight. Students at the school will be educated, during some portions of the day, in single-gender classrooms.
"Smithson-Craighead has presented a plan that is innovative," Swann said.
No principal has yet been identified for the school, an issue that Swann said provoked some discussion. But the portion of Smithson-Craighead serving lower grades has an effective principal, so charter school committee members reasoned that school leaders are likely to be able to hire an equally effective leader to take the helm of the middle school grades.
Last year, Smithson-Craighead applied for and was granted renewal of charter school status for its existing work at elementary school grade levels.
While Metro Nashville Public Schools denied, earlier this month, applications submitted by Global Academy and Smithson-Craighead, the denials were appealed - and district leaders say the amended applications answer all concerns.
MNPS currently has three charter schools in operation - LEAD Academy, Smithson-Craighead and KIPP Academy. Once part of the school system, charter schools must meet the same federal and state educational guidelines as other public schools. Charter schools receive local and state funding, but no public funds for building or transportation.
Smithson-Craighead, KIPP Academy and LEAD have each met all benchmarks set by federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, despite serving populations of students considered by many to be high-risk. All of Smithson-Craighead's students, and 94.3 percent of KIPP Academy's, are considered economically disadvantaged by state Report Card data. State Report Card data on economically disadvantaged students is not available for LEAD.
Last month, district leaders denied applications submitted by three organizations seeking to form charter schools. Only the amended applications submitted by Smithson-Craighead and Global Academy were approved. An amended application was denied for another prospective new charter school, the Nashville Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). Leaders of NAST have also applied for, and been denied, charter school status in previous years.
Davidson County, Tenn. | 
You must be logged in to comment. If you do not have an account, you can join our esteemed subscribers.