On my drive home today I flipped to 1100 on my AM dial and a guy who usually does sports talk had a pair of guests speaking of something I hadn't heard about - a new school under the Cleveland Municpal School District.  What I gathered is that it is a charter school beginning this August with 150 sixth graders.  The school year seems intense, going 11 months of the year and the school days are extended to 5:00 PM.  There is no tuition and assuming 150 or more students apply, entrants will be determined via lottery.  I assume by the title of the school (which is a mouthful and hopefully by the time the 6th graders move on to 7th they'll be able to pronounce it) that the curriculum will focus a bit on business and entreprenurial skills.  They implied that each year they will add another 150 kids, graduating their first high school class in 2013.

 

I did not catch the exact location of the school but I heard E. 105th mentioned.  I could not find thier location but there is some decent info on their website at http://www.ecitycleveland.com

Wow, that sounds great.  E.105th?  Maybe he said E. 107th??  I know that the renovated John Hay will reopen next year as a science magnet school.  Maybe this could be inside the John Hay as well. Its a mammoth structure.

Cleveland Charter school opening with high hopes

E Prep is brainchild of entrepreneur

 

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Scott Stephens

Plain Dealer Reporter

 

The 125 sixth-graders who will make up the first class at the new Entrepreneurship Preparatory School in Cleveland this summer had best starting thinking about their postgraduate plans.

 

"I'm going to shake each student's hand and tell them they're going to college," said the charter school's founder, John Zitzner. "That's what they're going to hear for seven years."

 

www.plaindealer.com

Where is this school located?  How is admission handled?  Sorry, but I'm not all that familiar with charter schools...

I still have not gotten definitive information on the location.  From my memory of the radio interview, it is essentially a sign-up basis for any kid entering the 6th grade in the Cleveland school district - if you are in the district you can apply, and 150 will get in, based on a lottery drawing if more than 150 get in. 

 

Their website is pretty barebones right now as far as how the school will work so I don't know if there is a mechanism in place to accept kids in later years.  With the kind of tough standards they seem to be pushing (and the longer year with more hours) I would guess kids might leave, so I don't know if they would fill openings in later years (i.e. if they lose 20 kids to transfers or other issues and are left with 130 in the first class, would they take new enrollment in 7th grade next year as well as another 150 for the new 6th grade?)

 

 

random lottery?  no admissions test?

I think I remember them implying that because it was still part of the public school system they could not turn people away on those grounds.  They only way they can turn people away is if they exceed their enrollment and only then, they can't use that to discriminate against someone who wants to put in their efford.  I know next to nothing about it too, I'm just going off what I heard.  It's possible that they COULD do admissions, but are trying to keep it open on purpose to provide opportunities and prove that they can turn kids previously "left behind" by the system around.

 

But given the workload and hours, my guess and hope is that the school is self-filtering.  I think that most of the kids in the program will be the more kids who are just not being challenged in their current situations.  They may not even have the best grades or track record, because bored kids often become lazy/disruptive kids.  But the track record is there and these people seem to be serious.  I hope CPS doesn't snoop around too much and lets them be themselves.

guest response from peabody99 spouse, prof of education at csu...shall we say dr.peabody99* (*not actual name!):

I applaud anyone attempting to improve the lives of urban youth through improved educational opportunities. However, beware of non-educators who think they have the answer.  I'd be more interested in what's happening in the supplemental entrepreneurial program this guy has operated.  With the information provided about his new entrepreneurial charter, it sounds like simply more of the same--more hours, more drill-skill-and kill, I fear.  The Heritage Foundation loves to tout its No Excuses schools that are "successful" (if you're naive enough to believe that teaching to the test and, therefore, higher standardized test scores equals success).  What they don't tell you is that these schools skim off the top, taking the most motivated kids with the most supportive parents.  Sounds like this guy is doing the same.  Who wouldn't succeed with these kids?  I challenge him to take the poorest, from the most dysfunctional families and see how successful he is--and I hope he is. And entrepreneurialism is based on creativity and risk taking through a project-based curriculum, not a pencil-and-paper test focus.  I hope that's what this school is set to foster in urban youth, not run a forced labor camp for 2000 hours per year.

While on the topic of unique inner city schools, here is one that is based on a model that has been very successful in other parts of the US.  Some very talented faculty and administration have departed St. Ignatius to run this school. 

 

http://www.stmartindeporreshs.org/

 

Corporate Work Study Program Overview /

 

The Corporate Work-Study Program (CWSP) is an integral part of the Saint Martin de Porres education. The CWSP provides many opportunities for St. Martin de Porres students throughout the city of Cleveland. Entry-level office positions in banking, law, medicine, finance and many other exciting career opportunities will be offered to the student.

 

One full-time, entry-level office job supports a team of four students. The cost is $23,000 for the school year and compensates for the time they spend working at your organization. Saint Martin de Porres handles all employment issues such as Workers' Compensation, Social Security, Medicare and tax withholding. The money that you pay the students is used to cover their tuition costs at St. Martin de Porres.

 

Each student will work one full day a week (five full days a month) to help cover 70% of his/her tuition. The remaining four days of the week the student will attend classes. Saint Martin de Porres will administer the program as well as provide training and feedback for the students. Saint Martin de Porres will also provide transportation to and from the work site.

 

 

 

I know of St. Martin de Porres firsthand and have been impressed with what I have seen and heard of it.  I am familiar with it because it replaced the grade school at my church--St. Vitus.  A friend of mine is the principal and from what she says, everything is going really well.  They are now in their second year, second freshman class.

 

I am also familiar with it because my company has four of these students working in our office downtown.  I believe that each of them takes a day Monday through Thursday and they switch off working Fridays.  I have been impressed with those that I have seen and talked to.  They seem to be diligent, hard-working kids.  I have never heard a bad word about them in the office, so I'm assuming that they have made a good impression.  Their supervisor in our office signed up for a second year, so that alone shows that the business/practical component of this school is working and the efforts of the students are valued.  I can't speak for the quality of the classroom education; hopefully, it's just as good as the real world experience the students seem to be getting.

Ah, I remember my mom telling me about that school - the old Principal at St. Ignatius Richard Clark, (who as a kid I thought of kind of a massive tool) left to be president of the school at St. Vitus?

 

But I didn't hear too much more about it after that.

 

Good things.  The more new ideas we get in education, that go away from the typical, progressive, uber-organized zombie factories that most schools are now, the better, in my opinion.