The Atlanta Board of Education unanimously approved Atlanta Classical Academy’s charter agreement renewal at its November board meeting. This is a major milestone in the life of our school! Our petition moves on to the Georgia Department of Education, from whom we hope to earn final approval early in 2019, perhaps sooner.
We have discussed the details of our charter renewal process in a number of open forums in recent weeks, months and years, most often at our board meetings. Most recently we had an open Q&A discussion at the October Cavalier Coffee surrounding our charter renewal process. As we advance through the final phase of our inaugural charter renewal, we wanted to take a few moments to provide more information about our application and to outline the steps that remain before us in this process.
Our renewal application proposed no substantive changes to our mission, curriculum, or school plan. Our efforts to provide a classical, liberal arts education in a K-12 public school are working well. As any good review process should, the renewal process has allowed us to identify some areas where we can improve; in keeping with our virtues, continuous improvement should always be at our core. One way we hope to improve is through small changes to our lottery and enrollment process that will better position us to serve families in the North Atlanta cluster.
Several years ago, the Georgia General Assembly authorized charter schools to implement a weighted lottery to ensure schools were accessible to all students, including those who are “educationally disadvantaged.” Educationally disadvantaged students include children who are economically disadvantaged, those for whom English is a second language, and those with learning disabilities. The percentage of educationally disadvantaged students at Atlanta Classical Academy is significantly below that of the other APS schools in the North Atlanta cluster. We have proposed weighted lottery procedures that would cause the composition of our new students to more closely resemble the other schools in our cluster.
By law, weights would be applied only after the statutory enrollment preferences for the siblings of currently enrolled students and the children of full-time employees and board members. Over time, the sibling preference that has helped us a build a “family school” will benefit all students and their families, including those who are economically disadvantaged. The weighted lottery would have the greatest impact where we typically have the most seats to offer: in our kindergarten.
It is important to note that our original charter runs through the current school year and that any changes to our lottery process will not take effect until the lottery for enrollment in the 2020-2021 school year. Until then, all our lottery processes will remain the same.
Next Steps
After our recent success with the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education, our application moves on to the Georgia Department of Education for review and discussion through the coming weeks. Please stay tuned for ways that you can help us complete this process.
Charter Renewal Q&A with the Board: Cavalier Coffee Friday, November 30
For those who have been unable to attend prior events, we will host a second Q&A on this topic for our November Cavalier Coffee on Friday, November 30, at 8:30 a.m. in the cafeteria. Please join representatives from the Board, Administration and Staff for an open discussion about the renewal process, proposed lottery changes, and what it means to be an APS charter school. If you would like to submit questions in advance, please send it to the PTCA .
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me, another board member, or to our Enrollment Coordinator, Janet Tomko.
Best,
Matthew Kirby
Board Chair