Correction: Insight School is a district choice school, not a public charter school, as originally written. The change has been reflected in this post. We apologize for any confusion caused.

School is getting back into gear for most students across Colorado. An ever more popular and innovative option for parents and students is the online school. The newest - Insight School of Colorado - is authorized by the Julesburg School District in the far northeastern corner of the state.

Technology and cyberspace are ever changing, so you may need to revise your notions of what an online education program looks like for the typical student. Here’s what Insight has to offer:

Enrolling at Insight means having access to the very best online high school education, including

• A personal mentoring program
• A nationally recognized curriculum
• Professional one-on-one instruction
• In-person meetings
• Social activities
• All the administrative and technology support you and your family need

There’s also a video that explains more about the Insight program (free Quicktime software needed). Social activities, you say, at an online school? According to the website, there will be a school newspaper, student government, academic clubs, occasional field trips throughout Colorado, and “Yes, there will be a prom!”

As an online district school of choice, the opportunity to enroll in Insight is open to students age 14 to 20 anywhere in Colorado. But only local Julesburg students have the option to enroll part-time; all others must sign up for at least 5 courses. Students at Insight benefit from the development of an individual learning plan, 24-hour-a-day academic and technical support, and the opportunity for upper-level students to earn as many as 12 college credits through the University of Phoenix Pathways program.

It’s too late to sign up for the upcoming fall semester, which starts next Monday, August 25. But the enrollment process remains open for the coming spring. No matter where you live in Colorado, Insight might be the right fit for your high schooler. Check it out!

Other new schools featured:

• eDCSD Online
• The Studio School in Adams 12
• Cesar Chavez Academy-North Central
• Early College High School Arvada
• AXL Academy
• The Imagine Classical Academy at Indigo Ranch

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Successful schools need to be highlighted, and West Denver Prep Charter School gets the appropriate treatment from Nancy Mitchell in today’s Rocky Mountain News:

West Denver Preparatory Charter School was born over lukewarm coffee in the basement of a church called The Pearl in a graffiti- stained neighborhood at the south end of Federal Boulevard.

In meeting after meeting, a carefully selected and diverse group - The Pearl’s minister, the city’s chief operating officer, a troubled kid from L.A. turned veteran teacher - drew the bones of a school they hoped would change minds about what can be achieved in public education in Denver.

Today, West Denver Prep ranks No. 1 among the city’s 44 middle schools in the academic growth of its students. It stages annual lotteries to select pupils from an overflow of applicants and, from those not chosen, tears are not unusual. [emphasis added]

Read the whole thing. Three cheers to West Denver Prep, and continued best wishes for success. Here’s hoping other schools - as well as education policy makers - take the time to watch, listen, learn, and follow its example.

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On its very first day of class, here’s a quick update on the Early College High School at Arvada, via an email one of my friends in the Education Policy Center received from school director Sarah Brock:

…First of all, due to strong community request and concern regarding the upcoming changes to the high schools in the area, we are enrolling both 9th and 10th graders this year (very small classes of both, between 30-40 students per grade). Going forward we will only be enrolling 9th graders each year - around 80 students each year - and we expect to reach capacity in 2012, with approximately 320 students. Because we are enrolling 10th graders this year, our first graduating class will happen in Spring of 2011!

Finally, I notice that you have our Open House and Information Sessions on the site - but all the dates are past. I would truly appreciate it if you would update the site to say that ECHS at Arvada will be accepting walk-in enrollments through August 22nd. Interested families can stop by the school and speak to Ms. Paula Kendall, our Office Manager, in the main office anytime between 8am - 4:30pm. They can also email me at sbrock@echswest.org if they would like more information or to set up a tour.

For anyone in the Denver metro area still looking for a free high school in which to enroll for 2008-09, this is the week to check out ECHS at Arvada as an option. Remember, you can find all your Colorado schooling options at the School Choice for Kids website.

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Last week I told you about how charter schools in Aurora were getting shortchanged in a proposed bond measure. The local newspaper, the Aurora Sentinel, fired back at the charter schools with a strange and poorly informed editorial.

There’s no need to rehash all the places where the newspaper’s editors went wrong. Denise at Colorado Charters took care of it pretty well with a two-part series (here and here).

According to a 2007 Harvard University national survey, most Americans don’t really know much about charter schools. Though interestingly, support for charters and equalized funding for charters is much higher among those who actually understand how they work. Perhaps if the Aurora Sentinel editors were similarly well-informed, their opinion would change.

But the reason I wanted to bring this all to your attention was the full and fresh treatment given today at the online news shop Face The State. One of the Education Policy Center’s own is quoted in the story:

“The claim that charter schools lack accountability is laughable,” said Ben DeGrow, an education policy analyst with the Independence Institute, a Golden-based free market think tank and frequent supporter of charter schools. “In many ways they’re more accountable than traditional public schools. If charters are managed poorly or fail to meet academic performance standards, they actually can be shut down.” [link added]

That’s somebody I want to grow up to be like. Anyway, you really ought to read the whole story, and then work to help my friends here in the Education Policy Center educate the public about school choice in Colorado — and particularly in this case, charter schools.

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Last week I took a look at the work of Aurora Public Schools’ “outside-the-box” superintendent John Barry, and concluded:

Of course, changing the leadership model isn’t the only way to fix public schools. There are limits to the sort of “top-down” approach. More “bottom-up” reform that decentralizes authority and empowers parents with school choice and accountability is essential. But there’s also something to be said for school boards working to find more leaders like John Barry.

There was more to the point about the “bottom-up” approach than I realized. John Barry is doing a lot of good things from a reform perspective, but as Alan Gottlieb writes today over at EdNews Colorado, it appears that he’s missing the most important thing:

But one area where Barry’s forward-thinking regime has been slow to see the light is on charter schools. Last night, the Aurora school board decided to asked voters to approve a $215 million bond issue this fall. From that amount, the district is ofering [sic] a total of $750,000 to the district’s six charter schools. That’s a grand total of one third of one percent of the proceeds. Not exactly generous. Still, better than Denver, Adams 12 and Douglas, which are planning to leave charters out altogether.

It’s not as though Aurora Public Schools has taken a hard-line stance against public school choice. Of course not. I’ve also highlighted the new AXL Academy charter school that’s opening up in Aurora this fall. But one-third of one percent is a paltry sum.

Aurora Public Schools is improving, but it can do even better by showing even a little equity to its charter schools. The fact that Aurora isn’t even among the worst offenders in the Denver metro area demonstrates that there is still quite a ways to go locally in education reform.

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In large part due to its remarkable success with its original Pueblo school, the Cesar Chavez School Network is expanding. 2008 brings the opening of Cesar Chavez Academy-North Central in Colorado Springs, open to students in kindergarten to 8th grade. The free public charter school is authorized by the state’s Charter School Institute.

The original Cesar Chavez Academy (CCA) has forged an excellent reputation. Working with a high-minority and high-poverty student population, CCA has helped nearly all its students to reach proficiency in reading, putting it on a rare plateau. The school’s success in closing the achievement gap has earned the attention of the U.S. Department of Education and generated a substantial waiting list of families waiting to get in.

The website for the new Colorado Springs school declares the focus of its mission up front:

It is the primary goal of the school, through an integrated K-8 program to dramatically increase the number of students who exceed district and state averages on the CSAP assessment and who enter secondary education prepared to succeed in a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum.

High expectations, equal learning opportunities, teacher teamwork, and parental involvement are all hallmarks of the CCA franchise. Like its predecessor, Cesar Chavez Academy-North Central will operate with an extended school day and an extended school year calendar. Those interested in enrolling at CCA-North Central can use the online form available here.

We sure hope to see Cesar Chavez Academy’s Pueblo success replicated in Colorado Springs. If so, you can expect parents will be trying to break down the doors to get in.

Other new schools featured:

• Early College High School Arvada
• AXL Academy
• The Imagine Classical Academy at Indigo Ranch

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For students or parents of students on the verge of entering the high school years, a new option is opening up this fall in Jefferson County, just west of the Denver city limits. The Early College High School (ECHS) at Arvada begins its first day of classes for 9th-graders only on August 18. Eventually, ECHS will serve all four high school grades, and is scheduled to graduate its first class in 2012.

Authorized by the Charter School Institute board, ECHS at Arvada touts itself as a small school. In fact, the facility space - a former credit union office currently under renovation - will be able to serve only up to 450 students.

But the real appeal of this charter school, located just east of Sheridan Blvd. on 60th Ave., is the design to help kids earn both a high school diploma and up to 60 transferable college credits in their four years. This dual-enrollment program especially is aimed to help young people whose families have limited background and financial resources that would allow them to enter the world of postsecondary education.

It’s not too late to enroll in ECHS at Arvada. If you need to find out more, though, you may attend one of the upcoming information sessions:

• Tonight, July 31, 7:00-8:30 pm, Regis Room, Carol Hall, Regis University
• Monday, August 11, 7:00-8:30 pm, the new school building at 4905 W 60th Ave.
• Thursday, August 14, 7:00-8:30 pm, 4905 W 60th Ave.

ECHS at Arvada also is hosting an open house this Saturday, August 2, from noon to 4 pm.

Other new schools featured: AXL Academy, The Imagine Classical Academy at Indigo Ranch

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I took a short vacation, but I’m back now. Thanks for your patience while I was gone. Now seems like a good time to continue our introduction to new charter and option schools in Colorado.

The AXL Academy in Aurora, starting with 240 students in Kindergarten to 5th grade next month, is promoting what it calls a “Revolution in Learning”:

All college prep schools expect students to excel in a rigorous academic program. But AXL asks more: that students discover how they learn, that they take intellectual delight and responsibility in their education, and that they gain the courage and integrity to negotiate the futures they create. AXL is committed to preparing all students to succeed in college and careers of their choosing.

Eventually, AXL Academy will grow to serve students up through the 8th grade. Each grade will receive an emphasis in experiential and project-based learning, in addition to character education, from a smiling faculty and staff - including head of school Audra Philippon.

What is different about AXL Academy? While the school is co-ed, the classrooms will be divided between boys and girls. And students will attend on a year-round basis with shorter breaks between each of the three trimesters. Class is in session Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, except for Wednesdays - which will release early at 1:00 PM.

For information on all your education options in Colorado, don’t forget to check out School Choice For Kids.

Other New Schools Featured: The Imagine Classical Academy at Indigo Ranch

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Today’s post is the first in a series on new charter or option schools opening up in Colorado this year. I’m out there keeping an eye on developments in the world of education that are important to parents. This definitely includes knowing about specific new options that may happen to be in your area or the area of someone you know, with a child who might fit well into the school’s environment.

Our first featured school is The Imagine Classical Academy at Indigo Ranch - located in the Falcon School District on the east side of Colorado Springs. The Academy is scheduled to open its doors for the upcoming 2008-09 school year. A temporary facility (pictured at right) will be used for the first year, while the permanent site is under construction.

Catering to students in kindergarten through 6th grade in its first year, the Academy will a use the Core Knowledge curriculum, and has school uniform requirements. Check out the school’s website for access to much more information on enrollment, program, staff, and more.

The Academy is the first of two schools being opened by principal and charter school developer Tina Leone, under an operating agreement with the national non-profit Imagine Schools.

For information on all your education options in Colorado, don’t forget to check out School Choice For Kids.

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CNN commentator Roland Martin hits the nail on the head today by proclaiming the need for more school vouchers, and highlighting the interest group politics that has blocked or slowed down the needed reform (H/T Mike Antonucci). His article is titled “McCain right, Obama wrong on school vouchers,” but the larger point is that it’s time to move school choice beyond partisan politics on a national scale.

Here’s some of what Martin has to say:

I fundamentally believe that vouchers are simply one part of the entire educational pie. There simply is no one sure-fire way to educate a child. We’ve seen public schools do a helluva job — I went to them from K through college — and so have private schools, home schooling, charter schools and even online initiatives. This is the kind of innovation we need, not more efforts to prevent a worthy idea from moving forward.

Obama’s opposition is right along the lines of the National Education Association, and the teachers union is a reliable and powerful Democratic ally. But this is one time where he should have opposed them and made it clear that vouchers can force school districts, administrators and teachers to shape up or see their students ship out.

It is unconscionable to ask a parent to watch as his child is stuck in a failing school or district, and ask him to bank on a politician coming up with more funds to improve the situation. Fine, call vouchers a short-term solution to a long-term problem, but I’d rather have a child getting the best education — now — rather than having to hope and pray down the line.

The current election may yet change the terms of the debate surrounding school choice. For years, acceptance of vouchers and tax credits has grown among minority communities, traditionally represented by the Democratic Party, many of whom have seen the failed schools and the hope provided by choice firsthand. Many in the Republican Party support expanding school choice because of their beliefs in competition or smaller government. But no matter how they come to the conclusion, the time for real and lasting positive change.

This really isn’t the simple partisan political issue some have made it out to be - nor should it be. And after this year, maybe more Americans of all political persuasions and affiliations will come to see we need to stop limiting possibilities and opportunities in education for American students.

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