In the spirit of the day, I looked for something scary in education to tell you about. But instead of that, I wanted to let you know about an exciting new national group that has formed:

This week a committed group of parents from around the United States officially launched the National Coalition for Public School Options (NCPSO) to support and defend public school options in their states and throughout the country.

The group was officially launched during the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) Virtual School Symposium.

“As parents, we want the best possible education for our children,” said Lori Cooney NCPSO president and parent of online public school students in Colorado. “Our founding board believes parents everywhere should have more public school options available to them, and we will help give those parents a voice in their state capitals and in our nation’s capital.”

Cooney joined two other parents to help form the organization: Briana LeClaire from Idaho and Christine Beard from Ohio, both fellow parents whose children are enrolled in online public schools.

The Coalition supports the creation of public school options, including charter schools, online schools, magnet schools, open enrollment policies and other innovative education programs. Additionally, the organization will advocate for free and equal access without restrictions to these public schools for all children.

Colorado’s own Lori Cooney is at the helm of this parent-led, pro-school choice group. Cooney has served as president of the Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families. A cyberschool mom, she has been an advocate for protecting the rights and options of students who benefit from an online education program.

The timing is very appropriate. It was almost exactly seven years ago (I wasn’t even around yet!) that Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno published her report saying Colorado needed to “stop the discrimination” in public K-12 online education. Things have gotten better since then, and online education has flourished in our state. But significant challenges certainly remain for those who seek the free and equal opportunity to send their children to an online school.

Therefore, it’s good to see that cyberschool students nationwide - in fact, all students who exercise public school choice - will have a strong advocate from right here in Colorado. Good luck to NCPSO! And I hope that Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families continues its important work, too.

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Families in the Northglenn-Thornton area north of Denver who are looking to immerse their younger students in a creative arts approach to education have a new option this fall. The Studio School (formerly known as the District Arts Magnet School) in Adams 12 opens its doors to students in kindergarten through 2nd grade on August 18. In each successive year, one grade will be added until it becomes a full K-8 school in 2014-15.

According to The Studio School’s website:

The arts are infused in core subject areas such as language arts, math, science and social studies. Staff empowers students with an interest in the arts to flourish and expand their artistic abilities through a solid academic environment. The learning environment capitalizes on the latest research linking academic success with the integration of arts concepts and experiences.

Each school day will include 85 minutes of creative arts–including visual art, music, theatre, dance, and literary art.

The Studio School is neither a public charter school nor a district school of choice. Applications must be made directly to the school, but only families living in Adams 12 are eligible to enroll. Students are selected by lottery on a geographic basis to represent different regions of the school district. Applications are closed for 2008-09.

Other new schools featured:

• Cesar Chavez Academy-North Central
• Early College High School Arvada
• AXL Academy
• The Imagine Classical Academy at Indigo Ranch

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