As nearly 500,000 Utah students head back to traditional schools this week, about 12,000 will be filling the classrooms of charter schools — more than 5,000 of them new students.
Charter schools in Utah have been growing rapidly since 1998, attracting families who don't feel the traditional system offers the programs and services they need. This year 36 charter schools will be operating in Utah, though one is expected to revert soon to non-charter status. Eleven of them are making their debut.
"I think (charter schools) are of great interest to parents — we live in a state where education is valued by families and they will go where they need to to get that quality education," said Carolyn Sharette, director of American Preparatory Academy charter.
"We have a mind-set in the charter community of ensuring the success of every student," Sharette said. "Public schools want every child to succeed, but (charters) exist to have every kid succeed — we set the schools up ourselves for that very purpose."
Nearly all Utahns have heard of charter schools. But many people scratch their heads when it comes to the actual definition and purpose of the schools.
Charter schools are public schools. Charter schools are free. And anyone can enroll.
Certain schools may have specific target populations, but like a traditional public school, students do not need to meet any requirements or pass any exams to get in.
Students enroll in charter schools for various reasons. They generally are smaller schools with smaller class sizes than traditional schools, and many have a specific emphasis, said John Broberg, state charter school director.
Most don't have transportation or varsity sports, but they do have some programs that traditional classrooms don't have. Those offerings, from accelerated science and engineering programs to dual language and film production programs, have garnered interest from students all over the state.
Many of the secondary charter schools target underserved populations and focus on college preparedness, while opportunities for individualized learning are a common attraction for elementary schools.
The schools are often run by parents or businesses. They must abide by state requirements, from testing to following the core curriculum, but have some freedom for teaching innovations.
Even so, not everybody has boarded the charter bandwagon. Charter schools draw students from traditional schools, along with state funding. So districts like Carbon School District that already have declining enrollments say charters suck much-needed funds from programs in traditional schools and put students in those schools at risk of losing learning opportunities.
But in larger, growing districts, many charters have long lists of students waiting to get in. American Preparatory Academy in Jordan School District has around 1,400 students on the waiting list, Summit Academy has more than 1,000, Ogden Preparatory Academy has more than 500 and the Academy for Math and Engineering in Salt Lake City has nearly 300 students waiting in the wings.
Still, most schools do extensive marketing through the media, fliers, open houses and mailers to get the word out on what programs their charters offer. The following list includes all of Utah's charter schools as of fall 2005, according to the Utah State Office of Education:• Academy for Math, Engineering and Science, grades 9-12, Salt Lake City. Located at Cottonwood High School, AMES, one of Utah's New Century high-tech high schools, targets at-risk high school students with an emphasis on technology and engineering.
• American Leadership Academy, grades K-12, Spanish Fork. The school will use a unique method of educational reform that emphasizes accountability, character development and respect for the individual.
• American Preparatory Academy-West, grades K-9, Draper. The school will follow the classical education model of the Trivium — observing the grammar, logic and rhetorical phases of learning and applying those principles in the classroom.
• Beehive Science and Technology, grades 7-8, Salt Lake City. The school's target population includes minorities, immigrants and refugee children, and its goal is to help students prepare for college. It has a math, science and technology emphasis.
• City Academy, grades 7-12, Salt Lake City. The school promotes democratic learning and is a First Amendment school that relies on active participation from all students, staff and parents in hopes of shaping responsible active citizens.
• DaVinci Academy, grades 9-12, Ogden. DaVinci is an alternative high school that targets at-risk students and helps them prepare for college with a project-driven curriculum.
• East Hollywood High, grades 9-12, West Valley. Located in the former Channel 2 News building, the school has sound stages, editing rooms and film production equipment. It focuses on performing arts — acting, music, film production and editing — and gives students real experience in entertainment.
• Fast Forward, grades 9-12, Logan. This alternative charter high school in Logan targets at-risk students who are struggling in the traditional system and aims to give students the individual help they need to graduate.
• Freedom Academy, grades K-8, Provo. This school is an academically rigorous charter that institutes a uniform policy and encourages parent volunteers.
• Itineris Early College High School, grades 11-12, West Jordan. The New Century high-tech high school has a rigorous curriculum, targets accelerated students and offers concurrent enrollment.
• John Hancock, grades K-8, Pleasant Grove. This school is based around Core Knowledge Sequence — learning builds on learning and children gain new knowledge only by building on what they already know. It also offers foreign language, music education and strings programs
• Moab Community School, grades K-8, Moab. The school offers individualized education and smaller class sizes for students who struggle in the traditional system.
• Navigator Pointe Academy, grades K-8, West Jordan. The school will provide students a broad liberal arts education based on classical education principles. Classical education emphasizes the critical skills of reading, arithmetic, and writing.
• North Davis Preparatory Academy, grades K-6, Layton. The school offers a dual-language program for students to become biliterate in Spanish and English and promotes literacy skills and cross-cultural understanding.
• North Star Academy, grades K-8, Riverton. The school has an emphasis is on individualized learning to help each student reach his/her personal potential.
• Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Sciences (NUAMES), grades 9-12, Roy. The charter is one of the New Century high-tech high schools and targets at-risk students, offers a rigorous curriculum with an emphasis in technology and sciences. It also provides opportunities for concurrent college enrollment.
• Odyssey Charter, grades K-6, American Fork. Odyssey aims to teach students how to learn using a classically based curriculum that is thorough, challenging and systematic — a language-intensive education.
• Ogden Preparatory Academy, grades K-5, Ogden. This school offers a Spanish as a second language program where students learn conversational Spanish and learn how to thrive in the global community.
• Ranches Academy, grades K-6, Eagle Mountain. Structured to provide a rich academic experience for students at all learning levels.
• Reagan Academy, grades K-8, Springville. Named after Ronald Reagan, the school offers debate teams, speech contests and guest speakers to help students develop into active responsible citizens.
• Salt Lake Arts Academy, grades 5-8, Salt Lake City. Aims to train youths to become their communities' future designers and decisionmakers through an arts-, academics- and action-rooted education.
• Soldier Hollow Charter School, grades 1-8, Midway. Uses the natural environment in pedagogy to meet each student's intellectual, emotional, social and creative needs.
• Success Academy, grades 9-12, Cedar City. Located on Southern Utah University's campus, the school targets underserved populations and emphasizes math, science and computer science along with concurrent college enrollment.
• Success School, grades 7-12, Taylorsville. Teaches at-risk students basic skills, critical concepts and challenging content in different learning styles.
• Summit Academy, grades K-6, Sandy. Focuses on rigor in a variety of subjects and developing individual student talents and interests.
• Thomas Edison Charter-South, grades K-7, Providence. The school aims to provide all students with the fundamental knowledge, tools and discipline to become reputable citizens and high achievers — focused on elemental skills development and strong parental involvement.
• Timpanogos Academy, grades K-6, Lindon. Provides a back-to-basics approach to learning through scientifically proven programs, including Core Knowledge Sequence, Saxon Math, Spalding Language Arts and Open Court Reading.
• Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts, grades 9-12, Ivins. The nation's only charter high school affiliated with a professional arts organization, where students work alongside show producers, directors and designers.
• Uintah River High School, grades 10-12, Fort Duchesne. Emphasizes teaching within a framework of Native American student learning styles; includes Native American art, Ute language and history and outdoor classroom to prepare students for future jobs managing Ute Tribe resources.
• Utah County Academy of Sciences, grades 10-12, Orem. UCAS, one of Utah's New Century high-tech high schools, offers students a rigorous educational experience on the Utah Valley State College campus. High school graduation requirements can be fulfilled while earning college credit at little or no charge.
4 comments on this story • Walden School of Liberal Arts, grades 7-10, Provo. Walden is founded on a vision of a school where students are anxiously engaged in learning, participate in their own education and are actively planning, collaborating, solving problems and sharing ideas.
• Wasatch Peak Academy, grades K-6, Bountiful. Wasatch offers a bilingual educational opportunity for all grades and asks 30 volunteer hours at the school from each family.
E-mail: terickson@desnews.com
Contributing: Jennifer Toomer Cook
