Two organizations file to open charter schools

Prism group to meet Tuesday

By Brett Bennett

Posted: July 27, 2009 at 6:56 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — Organizers who hope to open a new area charter school - the Prism Education Center - will host aninformational meeting about their plans Tuesday.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Fayetteville Boys & Girls Club. Misty Newcomb, Prism contact, said the meeting is scheduled to last about an hour.

The group is one of two that filed letters of intent to open charter schools with the Arkansas Department of Education. Newcomb said letters had to be filed by the June 30 deadline, then a formal application has to be submitted by Aug. 31.

Final approval or denial of the application by the Arkansas State Board of Education probably won't come until late fall.

"We would like to open in 2010," Newcomb said.

The charter school's plan is to enroll up to 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. A location has not been selected, but Newcomb said organizers are looking for a facility in Fayetteville and Springdale.

In her letter of intent to the education department, Newcomb wrote, "Prism seeks to provide a specialized academic program focused on the needs of children from low-income families. Prism will be guided by research-driven practices that are effective at raising the academic achievement of students from economically disadvantaged homes."

Also, according to the letter, Prism will provide a year-round school schedule, extended school days and aggressive academic interventions.

"Prism intends to decrease the achievement gap that exists between the children served by Prism and the general population," she said.

Another group, the Oklahoma-based Sky Foundation, filed a letter announcing plans to establish a kindergarten through 12th grade open-enrollment charter school known as the Dove School of Excellence. The group operates four such schools in Oklahoma.

The letter was signed by Bilal Erturk, who identified himself as Sky Foundation's president, and used an Oklahoma State University email. Attempts to reach him at a listed OSU work number were unsuccessful.

Kaan Camuz, director of the Dove schools in Oklahoma, confirmed the foundation had applied to open a school in Arkansas, but he said he was on vacation and wanted to wait to discuss thematter further.

The only open-enrollment charter school currently based in Fayetteville is Haas Hall Academy, which can house grades 8-12 starting with the upcoming school year. Haas Hall starts its sixth school year in August.

Last year, the academy moved from a renovated dairy barn in rural Farmington to the Paradigm Building at 3155 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville.

In November, the state board denied a request from the Little Scholars of Arkansas Academy in Little Rock, also known as LISA, to create a new open-enrollment charter school program in Johnson.

News, Pages 1, 3 on 07/27/2009

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