Charter school opens with exorbitant waiting list

Six hundred children are on waiting list for Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School

After three years of planning and paperwork, the Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School (TEECS) opened its doors in September for children in kindergarten through fourth grade.

The school, located in Franklin but serving children from North and South Brunswick as well, focuses on technology and energy resources in addition to the New Jersey core curriculum.

“We want the children to understand nature and the resources available to us,” Raja Govindaraju, curriculum supervisor and special education supervisor, told the Sentinel. “We are taking our children back to nature and to understand the implications if we don’t take care of Mother Earth.”

“We want to focus on solar cell energy, hydropower, and those sort of energies that we are using through everyday life,” said Head Person Yildiz Oguz.

For September and October, the curriculum will focus on recycling, incorporating it into lessons across the disciplines.

“The children will talk about how trees are important to us, why it’s important to recycle, and how we protect the environment and make the earth a better place to live in,” Govindaraju said. “There is non-fiction text and articles about recycling. We also integrate [the other subjects] with recycling, and we will take field trips to recycling centers in the community.”

Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that are part of the public school system and receive public funds, but frequently put a strong focus on a particular field in addition to the state’s core curriculum. They are often toted as an alternative to public schools and are attended by choice.

TEECS filed its application to start a charter school in 2009 and their charter was granted in 2010. After its awarding, charter schools need to re-file for permission each year until the school starts, unless the application is denied or not renewed. Typically, finding a space zoned for a school is the most difficult step, and is one that often ends the charter process for many would-be institutions.

TEECS found space in the same building as Central Jersey College Prep, an unaffiliated charter school, Oguz said. He explained that TEECS received $500,000 of federal funding over three years, money used to purchase basic necessities to start the school.

“We were granted a federal starter budget, and over the summer we started using the first budgeted payment,” Oguz, said. “We’re only allowed to use it for starting the school, such as for furniture, books, and computers.”

Charter schools receive money from the state in accordance with the amount of children enrolled. Public education is calculated by a certain cost per child, and that amount of paid to TEECS for operational costs.

Enrollment for the 2012-13 school is at its maximum capacity of 210 children, with a waiting list of an additional 669 seeking a spot for the current school year.

Without advertising, Oguz said, the school received over 100 applications just for kindergarten.

TEECS relies heavily on the use of technology, both in the classroom and out. Teachers have access to iPads to give interactive lessons using “smart” classroom boards, and an iPad cart is stocked with enough devices so that each student in a class averaging from 18 to 24 students can use an iPad for an interactive lesson. A smartphone application for Android and iPhone gives children and parents a new way to keep track of homework, assignments, grades, and behavior marks, as well of use of the Dropbox program to submit assignments. Miniature robotics called Little Bits will be incorporated into technology classes, and additional technologies, such as robotics, are in the works for later in the school year. Lunches are swiped for with student IDs with the parents paying the bill online.

Even with the strong focus on technology, education consultant Lynette Tannis explained that the emphasis on language arts, handwriting, and other “non-technical” subjects is strong.

“Implementing a balanced literacy bloc within the school allows for creativity,” Tannis said. “Even when there’s a mini-lesson when students are in smaller groups and working together, there’s still a focus on the core literacy instruction.”

Students are divided into two classes, “gifted” and “talented.” The “gifted” class has 22 to 24 children, and moves at a faster pace to challenge the students. The “talented” class has 18 students for individualized attention and moves at a slower pace. The purpose, Oguz said, is to level out the playing field in each classroom, both for the teacher and the students.

Parents are also highly involved with their children’s education. Instead of parentteacher conferences being held at school, teachers make visits to the home, which Govindaraju said is key in order to understand the child better.

“I believe that a home and school connection is extremely important because there are the two major groups where the child spends most of her life,” Govindaraju said. “In order to make a connection to the child, you need to know where he or she is coming from and talk to the parents to understand their philosophy and values.”

“Without this connection, a student may come home and say one thing to mom and may go back and say another thing to the teacher,” Tannis said. “This allows the students to see that mom and teacher are on the same team and will help contribute to the child’s success as a student.”

Govindaraju said that parents and children alike have been receptive to home visits.

“Most parents are thrilled, and even the child is surprised to see the teacher really care for her,” Govindaraju said.

However, with each charter school that opens its doors in September, there are several who are not able to take the final decisive steps to becoming a school. The Princeton International Academy Charter School (PIACS), which intended to serve South Brunswick children, went through the same process as TEECS, but was unable to acquire a building and its charter renewal was rejected for the 2012-13 school year.

“This charter is, for lack of a better word, dead,” said Kristin Epstein, vice chair of the school’s board. “The board is in the middle of dissolving.”

PIACS’s theme would have been a Mandarin Chinese language immersion program, led by Dr. Bonnie Liao, who started language programs and private schools in Bergen County and Princeton.

“She heard from some parents who had one child in the private school, and by the time their second child came around, they didn’t think they could afford to send them there,” Epstein explained. “She noticed that people were doing excessive things to teach their children Chinese, like sending their kids to camp in Beijing, and she noticed a need for a charter school in the area.”

PIACS applied in 2009 but delayed the start date for three years in an ultimately failed attempt to find a building. PIACS faced intense opposition from the public schools, which Epstein believed eventually led to its rejection. There are no intentions to re-apply for PIACS.

“As a charter school, we can adapt faster and try more pilot programs,” Epstein said. “We need to have the right to be able to fail — if one program didn’t work out, we will learn from the next one.”

That spirit of open communication and flexibility is something that TEECS is carrying on in its curriculum.

“Education has long been criticized as being a mile long and only an inch deep, so we want children to find ways to really delve into a subject,” Govindaraju said. “We want to get input, see how teachers are responding and building into every aspect, and then we will change it.”


BY STELLA MORRISON
Staff Writer


Contact Stella Morrison at smorrison@gmnews.com.

Source: http://ns.gmnews.com/news/2012-09-27/Schools/Charter_school_opens_with_exorbitant_waiting_list.html