Charter school taking shape

Cottonwood High School students next fall could share their digs with kids from the state's premiere high-tech charter school, education officials said.

The charter school would be a rigorous, tuition-free academy for math, engineering and science that will push kids through the first two years of college while in high school, offer state scholarships upon completion, and be open to anyone who wants to attend.

But first, it must be approved by would-be partners, the Granite and Salt Lake City school boards. Granite, home to Cottonwood High, will vote Tuesday. The University of Utah also plans to join hands with the team.

"I know I'm a little premature," Leavitt education deputy Rich Kendell said. "But I'm very enthusiastic this school can thrive . . . and get kids turned on to science, math and engineering."

Meanwhile, Gov. Mike Leavitt has scheduled a breakfast meeting next week with high-powered executives to encourage the school's sponsorships. The school, and replicas expected for Logan, Ogden, Cedar City and Utah County, already has $3.5 million in seed money from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Charter schools are public schools offering educational choices and flexibility within the regular school system. Some, like the high-tech schools, have a niche. Most are heavy on parental involvement.

The 2002 Legislature authorized up to six high-tech charters, dubbed New Century charter schools.

The schools would be overseen by the State Board of Education. Students would graduate with a high school diploma and associate's degree, qualifying them for the state's New Century Scholarship to cover most of the next two years of college tuition.

Kendell and the school's principal, former Murray curriculum director Al Church, for months have talked with Salt Lake City and Granite school districts to find the school a home.

Several possibilities were tossed around before Cottonwood was singled out.

Cottonwood now enrolls about 1,700 students but was built to hold nearly 3,000, said Linda Mariotti, Granite assistant superintendent of instructional services.

Aside from space, Cottonwood is the proposed site "because of the high quality of the facility and because of the image that could be portrayed for this new school in that environment," Granite Board of Education President Lynn Davidson said.