Residents get a crash course in Key Biscayne Charter School

Published in The Islander News May November 6, 2008
Kelly Josephsen. kjosephsen@islandemews.com

The public input process on a local charter high school/community learning center began in earnest last week, with dozens of residents focusing on everything from what the school should look like to how to make sure students get the well-rounded education they need.

Participants also got a crash course in how charter high schools are created and operated.

As Jennifer Lamar from Village school consultant Fielding Nair International noted, "We're here to open your minds to all the possibilities of what this school could be."

FNI conducted two separate workshops — one on "Visioning" and one on "Educational Models" — and offered day and evening sessions of each to accommodate as many residents as possible. In all, nearly 200 residents attended the four sessions, said Building, Zoning and Planning Director Jud Kurlancheek.

"We had a great turnout," Kurlancheek reported. "There were a lot of new faces."

The process will continue with sessions on school programming Wednesday, November 19, from 8:30-11 a.m. and Thursday, November 20, from 7-9:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Community Center.

Kurlancheek said he hopes even more residents enter the conversation. "We really need to hear from people who have not participated, as well as those who continue to participate," he said. "We need to hear the most divergent views as possible so we can get a good sample of the community."

The input will help FNI generate a feasibility study, which it will submit in January 2009.

"The next step is for Fielding Nair to analyze the input from the workshops," Kurlancheek said. "That should help them determine if there's going to be a school, the vision and philosophy for that school.”

Visioning

Last week's Visioning sessions started with consultants passing out forms with paces to rank 65 slides from "dislike extremely" to "like extremely." Each slide popped up on a screen for just a few seconds, prompting participants to give a basic gut reaction.

Images included large auditoriums, gymnasiums, atriums, classrooms filled with rows of chairs, students studying outside under a tree, a yoga class, high-tech workstations and more.

Along with soliciting input, FNI staffers educated the audience about options for an innovative school -- one where "project-based" learning, community involvement and real-world skills are emphasized.

Lamar talked about "building a sense of community- with a school that benefits all islanders. She said the facility wouldn't just be open during the school day; its classrooms, computer labs, athletic facilities, etc. could be made available in the evenings and in weekends for lifelong learning opportunities.

Similarly, students at the high school wouldn’t stay within its walls.

Lamar described a "community as classroom" concept, noting people, businesses and organizations on the Key could play a big role in the education process.

For example, she said, students at one charter school worked with a college lab to test area homes for radon gas; others joined forces with local businesses to start in-school bakeries, movie rental stores, credit unions and graphic design companies. FNI's Clare Vogel pointed to a Canadian school where students will be able to train with the local police department to become law enforcement officers.

Yet another charter school takes kids on educational international trips.

"If it's something real, kids really rise to the occasion," Lamar said. "It teaches kids that their ideas can become something real-big."

Doug Thomas, executive director of EdVisions, which is working alongside FNI on the school study, has helped open 40 charter schools under that philosophy.

Students in EdVisions' schools get their own high-tech work spaces and access to science labs, metal and wood shops, art facilities, music rooms, greenhouses and more. Ideally, such schools are very small — 125-150 students — and allow teens to work with faculty on individual learning plans.

"It isn't the old memorization model. It's a learning-to-learn model," Thomas explained.

Residents had specific questions about how the concepts would work in Key Biscayne. For one thing, they asked if the 400-student school that local proponents envision would be too big for personalized learning.

Thomas said it would probably be best to split the Village's school into a few theme- based academies, like a math school, an art school, etc, Some workshop participants said that could give the local school a real identity, allowing it to be known as a leader in its specialized fields.

Residents also asked about "value-added" components, and Thomas said many of EdVisions' schools offer International Baccalaureate programs and Advanced Placement courses.

He added a lot of elective classes, like foreign languages, are opened based on demand. Some might be held as seminars, meaning they meet once a week or for a specific period of time.

Workshop participants wondered if students would get the basics they need to get into college, as well as a well-rounded education, under the EdVisions system.

Thomas said teachers still focus on state and national standards, like the FCAT, SAT and ACT. Nair explained the difference is students are taught to understand the concepts covered on standardized tests, not just memorize the information — and test scores for EdVisions students prove it's working.

Furthermore, Nair noted, most top colleges aren't that interested in SAT or ACT scores — they want to know what applicants have contributed and will contribute to their communities.

State standards also help make sure kids learn about all subject areas. Thomas said students' individual learning plans set a course for meeting state standards in all subjects, and parents, students and teachers carefully track progress on those plans throughout the school year.

Finally, parents wanted to know where they'd find teachers for such an innovative school. Thomas said that has been EdVisions' biggest challenge. The company does a lot of its own training, he said, and Nair noted experts from the community could also come in as volunteer instructors.

Educational Models

While the Visioning workshops allowed participants' imaginations to run wild, the Educational Models sessions were designed to provide more nuts-and-bolts information about charter school options.

Thomas described the parameters for what a charter school is, as well as what it is not.

There are plenty of reasons for communities to go the charter school route, he added.

Along with local control and decision- making, he said, such schools are more accountable to their students, provide students with a sense of place in their own communities and allow for shared facilities.

Funding for charter schools cones from the state, Thomas added, typically at a rate of around $7,500 per student. There is no tuition, but private fund-raising can be used to supplement state dollars.

The schools can have extracurricular activities and sports — Key Biscayne kids would compete against similar-sized schools

in South Florida, and, per state law, athletes who want a larger venue or a sport not offered locally could try out for teams at the Village's public high school, Coral Gables High.

Officials noted a local high school could offer quite a few athletic options — golf and tennis at Crandon Park facilities, as well as basketball and swimming at the Key Biscayne Community Center.

Along with discussing general concepts, consultants described three models — traditional schools, value-added programs like AP and IB and personalized design based on community interests.

All those designs could offer the hall-marks of EdVisions' schools, Thomas said, including flexible schedules, personalized learning, multiple means of assessment, connection to the community and more.

After hearing those descriptions, parents had many of the same questions as they did at the Visioning sessions. Major concerns included whether all kids would thrive in an EdVisions-type school, and whether students from an innovative high school could adapt to the typical "big college" environment.

On the first issue, Nair noted traditional schools would remain an option. He said it's important to give teens as many choices as possible, as not everyone learns in the same way.

Choice was also key to the college question. Nair said there are many college options, so students can seek out the type of higher education they want.

Furthermore, he noted, EdVisions schools teach kids how to be self-motivated — which means students have the tools to do well in anything from an intimate lab to a large college lecture hall.

Along with answering specific questions from the audience, Nair and company asked participants in the Educational Models sessions to view a number of photos — similar to the slides from the Visioning workshop — and mark those they liked and those they didn't like. FNI will use the feedback to pinpoint what type of school residents want; then, it will address whether that type of school is feasible.

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