By: Carolyn Mathews Published: 04 October 2011
While the lower grades still have a wait list, Cherokee Charter Academy actively is seeking fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders for its school.
Students for all grade levels can apply online.
Classes at the new state “Special School,” which is a public school designated for funding at the state level, opened Aug. 15, after the school overcame numerous roadblocks, including a ruling from the Georgia Supreme Court negating its original funding method and a 4-3 decision by the Cherokee County School District not to approve the charter as a district school.
The Local Governing Council (LGC) of the school held its second meeting Sept. 28. Three members of the council were present, council member George Lopos attended by phone and council members Danny Dukes and Heather Blevins were absent.
Since monthly financials are not available to the LGC if they meet the third Wednesday of each month, the council voted to change its regular meeting time to the fourth Wednesday at 10 a.m.
However, there will be conflicts with that schedule during the holidays in November and December that have yet to be resolved, Council member Larry Blase said.
Principal Vanessa Suarez told the council that current enrollment stood at 822.
Originally, 995 students were chosen by the school’s lottery, but on the first day, 562 actually enrolled. Suarez said daily attendance was averaging 95 percent.
“We had three new students this morning,” she said, explaining that higher grades were smaller because the school’s opening was in jeopardy when Cherokee County School District schools began Aug. 1, and many middle-schoolers, who originally had signed up, went ahead and enrolled in their district school and did not want to move after two weeks.
Suarez said Charter Schools USA, a for-profit company that operates the school, is contemplating adding two lower-grade classes to accommodate its wait list at certain grade levels.
LGC member Lyn Carden said many parents were enjoying their children’s small class sizes at the middle school level, but may not realize that funding for the school is based on a state per-pupil count, finalized in mid-October.
She said she is hearing lots of positive comments on the school from parents.
“It’s word of mouth that will fill the middle school,” said Charter Schools USA Senior Manager of Development Sandy Castro, who attended the meeting.
She noted if more students are enrolled in the next few weeks, it will mean more state funding for the school. There is no tuition for the school, as it is considered a public school, and all appropriately aged students in Cherokee County can apply.
Parent Teacher Cooperative Council Co-Chair Kelly Marlow told the council that parents would work toward getting the word out that there are openings at the middle school level.
“My parents have been asking for a high school,” Suarez told the council, and Marlow agreed.
Carden explained that at the high school level, current
middle school students feed the high school, so that is another reason to increase middle school enrollment.
Castro said a charter high school would need school board approval and the climate for charter school approval and funding in Georgia is not conducive to funding a high school immediately.
Council member Quentin Thomas said demand will fuel an eventual high school.
“First, you need to prove yourself,” he said.
Blase predicted that when test scores come out, enrollment will increase.
Suarez reported that the Strive 65 program for character education is under way, with the fifth grade doing recycling. Part of the program, she said, is the service projects must have a community business partner.
Upcoming projects include fall beautification of the school grounds, writing letters and sending care packages to the troops and a clothes drive for
the Cherokee Family Violence Shelter.
She said electronic white boards had been installed in all the third-grade through seventh-grade classrooms and that in kindergarten through second grade, each grade level had one.
“I’d eventually like to have a cart, with 25 laptops,” she said. Currently, teachers have a laptop, and there are two additional laptops per class, plus a schoolwide computer lab.
At the meeting, board members discussed the length of their terms and the makeup of the board.
The board has three parents and four community members, with one community member yet to be appointed.
The LGC initially is appointed by the Georgia Charter Educational Foundation (GCEF), the nonprofit funding arm of the school. Both Carden and Dukes sit on the GCEF, and Carden said she has identified a potential final council member.
The council also discussed term length; two members have three-year terms, three members have two-year terms and two members have one-year terms. It has not yet been determined which council members will serve the various term lengths, as the issue was postponed until the next meeting of the council, set for Oct. 26.
Carden explained that as members rotate off the council, they may either indicate they would like to serve another term or decline to serve another term. The council makes the determination on each council seat at the end of each term, in order to maintain a proper mix of expertise on the council she said.
According to the charter, there must be three parents and four community members on the board at all times.
“It’s in the charter of the school to poll parents as to satisfaction with the school, and it’s the council’s job to keep them happy,” she said, explaining why council seats are not up for a vote.
In other business, Suarez told the council the school’s floors were waxed and the carpets were cleaned and that a workout for
issues with the air-conditioning is in progress.
For more information, visit www.cherokeecharter.org.