The new Chesapeake Public Charter School will be a St. Mary’s public school, but in many ways it will look like a public-private hybrid.
In one very important way it will be like other public schools – it will be open to anyone in a district where the school is located and everyone will have an equal opportunity to go there. The school will require students apply for admission, but the application isn’t based on a child’s skills or abilities. Like any public school, Chesapeake Public Charter School will accept any student who applies when they have space for them.
It’s also like a public school in that there is no tuition. “Most people don’t understand that – they think it’s like a private school where you have to pay to go,” explains Kate Sullivan, one of the founding members, “but in two important aspects it’s just like a public school – we have to take anyone who applies, if we have room, and there’s no tuition.”
Yet, the charter school does resemble a private school in other ways. For example, students choose to go there, rather than being assigned because of their district. They will have low student-teacher ratios, 20:1 at most. The charter will also have a unique curriculum and educational approach that distinguishes it from the other public schools in the district.
“The other thing that will make us different,” says Kate, “is that we will expect all parents to be involved”. The school actually requires parents to sign an agreement stating that they understand what the expectations are and they agree to them. Set expectations will measure the parents’ involvement.
A Different Way of Learning
Like other public schools, Chesapeake Public Charter School will be under certain restrictions, including those imposed by No Child Left Behind. Though the school could ask for a waiver, Kate Sullivan says they will follow the Maryland State curriculum. What will make this school different is how they apply that curriculum. The way they present the material is different, the way it is organized will be different, and the way students will be assessed is a little different.
“Brain-based theory says human beings learn by making connections and don’t really learn when we see things in isolation. Research has shown over and over again that authentic learning occurs when you have a reason for learning it – it’s meaningful – and you see how it fits in to the rest of your knowledge – you make connections. That’s why we are implementing an integrated curriculum. Kids will read when they get inspired to read because they want to know more about the blue crabs that they just saw. When they see they have to calculate the average water temperature to see if this is a good environment for blue crabs, they’ll want to practice their math. But if you sit down and tell kids to add a column of numbers and divide by the number of items that you’ve added and that’s an average they’ll forget it in 5 minutes. That’s our theoretical base and it’s very much grounded in research.” Kate suggests that public schools are doing just the opposite, departmentalizing.
In the average public school children are assigned set times for math, and for reading, and if there’s time for science and social studies. “Recent legislation has put demands on schools that almost makes it impossible to teach science and social studies adequately,” Kate asserts, “and what we see is that it’s not mutually exclusive – you can do both – they can be reading about social studies material. It’s not tha
