The Charter School Support Network, a Chamber committee composed primarily of business leaders who serve on the boards of one of Nashville’s 11 charter schools, met at
Nashville Prep on January 19. Founded by Ravi Gupta as a college-preparatory academy, and still in its first year of operation, the charter school serves fifth-grade students, with plans to add one grade level each year.
Located inside the downtown campus of Tennessee State University, the school offers a longer school day (7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Saturday school every other week, resulting in approximately 15 additional instructional days per academic year. As a component of the extended day, students receive one hour of daily tutoring and participate in one hour of enrichment activities, which include basketball, chess, chorus, dance and drama.
This month, committee members heard an update from Alan Coverstone, executive director of MNPS’ Office of Innovation, regarding the Charter Compact and the Performance Management Replication Closure (PMRC) timeline to establish benchmarks for Nashville charter schools. Nashville’s charter compact outlines the ways in which Metro Schools and the city’s growing charter sector should work in partnership. As part of the compact work, members took part in a preliminary conversation to identify indicators for high-quality schools. Graduation, matriculation, school climate, academic rigor, attendance and parent involvement were some of the defining characteristics committee members believe are important when evaluating school performance. At the next meeting, the committee will further examine the question, “What is a high-performing school?” Committee members are encouraged to invite other members of their respective charter boards to participate in this important conversation.
The committee also received an update regarding the existing charter school landscape in Nashville. Currently, there are 11 charter schools in operation, with an additional three schools approved to open this fall. In addition, a new KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) school is authorized to open in 2013. Applications for new charter schools will be accepted between March 1 and April 1, with a 60-day review period to commence on April 1.
Click here to see more photos from the meeting.