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Charter recruits refugees

One correction - approximately 15% of our students are refugees. About 50% of our students are "new americans" - immigrants and refugees.

We are excited to be serving these amazing, wonderful students!

A perfect example of how choice in education benefits everyone! When you have motivated, competent leadership instead of bloated district offices it's amazing what you can do for students. Even parents new to America recognize the value of choice. Bravo to Sharette and her faculty for tackling a population that most schools don't know how (or don't want) to deal with.

I am appalled. If the story had been about a white Mormon child focusing intently on the task in front of him, would it have begun with an account of two flies playing tag around his head?
What was Elizabeth thinking when she wrote that? ...And, where were the editors?

What's with the girl wearing the scarf? This is America, not the third world they came from. On the other hand, we are becoming more and more like the third world with all these immigrants who refuse to adapt to our ways.

APA may recruit the homeless, poor, illiterate, non-English speaking refugees, but they only take the top 90% of them :)

"American Preparatory Academy, to make a charter school education more viable for needy families, sometimes foots the bill for school uniforms and supplies – a perk, Lui said, traditional public schools can't compete with. Sharette secured grant money to pay for a bus to pick up students at their homes because many refugees don't own cars. "

APA has less money to work with than a District school, yet they boast smaller class sizes AND can find people and businesses to donate uniforms for students in needs. Districts just don't get it and FEAR the positive changes going on in public education. We need one-hundred APA's in the state, not more of the same old same old we get when a District forms a school.

John Carter-
this story isn't about race or religion. not every story has to be about religion or race. you are looking to be offended. perhaps you need to move.

I am assuming anonymous is joking - tongue in cheek referring to the many accusations we endure that we only take the "cream of the crop" when in reality we utilize a lottery process and are unable to do so.

But I just wanted to make sure in case some thought anonymous was serious. Besides, what would the "top 90%" look like? How would we know what this is, what is means and who they are?

We employ a random drawing process to enroll all of our students. We have wait lists already at the West Valley Campus, except we have about 10 openings in the Jr. High for anyone who may be interested in our school for 7th, 8th or 9th grade students.

Why exactly can't the districts compete with this school? They have more money, more employees, more administration, more politico's available to them?!

It's priorities, the districts priority is power and money, not children and families.

Way to go to the folks who sacrifice their time and talents to start a school like this one, makes me proud to be an American.

John,
America was founded by immigrants, thus the term "melting pot."
Nothing wrong with immigrants celebrating their own culture, as long as they appreciate being an American at the same time.
Abide by our laws, get an education and eventually pay it forward by paying taxes etc. so others can have their turn.

This is an impressive school, why don't more public schools follow this example?

Bravo to the entire staff at American Prep. Academy. They are truly changing lives and the impact will ripple for generations to come.

From this article I have learned that the "innovative" education Charters offer (that districts fear) boils down to the following:

Free transportation (bus service)
Free clothing
Singing and chanting in the classroom

Way to go Charters!

Perhaps "Great Innovations" missed the part about 95% of our students being proficient on state tests at our Draper location.

One of our most productive innovations is our character development program, which is based upon the following poem, which all students, staff and parents memorize - some call recitation "chanting" :)

Builders
I saw them tearing a building down,
A gang of men in a busy town.

With a yo, heave, ho and a lusty yell,
They swung a beam and the sidewall fell.

I asked the foreman if these men were as skilled
As those he were to hire if he were to build.

He laughed and said "oh, no indeed,
Common labor is all I need,
For they can wreck in a day or two
What builders have taken years to do."

So I asked myself as I went my way,
Which of these roles am I to play?

Am I the builder who works with care,
measuring life by the rule and square,
Or am I the wrecker who walks the town,
Content in the role of tearing down?

I've made my decision, I'll start today.
I'll be a builder in every way!

Food for thought!

I love that the director of educational equity for Granite School District(Charlene Lui) said that American Preparatory Academy's school for new Americans offers "perks" that "traditional public schools can't compete with."

I can't stop laughing. Charter schools are hugely disadvantaged compared to public schools. They have less public and political support, and a smaller budget.

To get a bus, Carolyn Sharette had to write grants and submit them to several different grantors. That, to me, sounds like a perk that public schools offer that a charter school would have to struggle to compete with, not the other way around.

APA also has uniform requirements, but the underpriveledged families typically can't afford to buy a new wardrobe and shoes for their kids. So people like Sharette stayed at work late, finding donors and volunteers who came up with innovative solutions that allow them to maintain their uniform policy without burdening the refugee parents.

Lui - the free shoes and uniforms and the school buses didn't magically appear out of thin air. Granite school district could certainly offer any perks they wanted if they had leaders, parents, staff and volunteers like the ones at APA.

Anonymous's comment about taking the top 90% of the refugees is comical. A charter school cannot cherry pick the best students in a lottery system, which is the type of system that all charter schools must use. APA is no exception. Anonymous's statement makes the same hackneyed argument that charter schools always hear when people are looking for reasons to explain why charter schools seem to be having such great success. Indeed, if I had made such an accusation without any data to back it up, I would have made an anonymous comment too. :)

Perhaps Carolyn Sharette has (conveniently?)forgotten that this article is NOT about her main Draper campus and the data associated with that school.

At my traditional public school, we judge our success by our results, not our intentions.

This story was all about good intentions. I hope the DesNews will revisit this school in a few years to see what results have been achieved from free transportation, clothing, and chanting.

BTW: Truth

I'm sure Sharette is the ONLY person in the history of schooling in Utah who has ever stayed late working on innovative solutions to the difficulties faced by students and parents. (Voice dripping in sarcasm)

Any school, public or private, is welcome to conduct clothing drives for the needy. Shouldn't charity begin in one's own backyard? Bravo, American Preparatory Academy, for setting the standard that others should emulate.

Singing and chanting are not necessarily academic activities. However, singing and chanting specific definitions, formulas, and directions are fabulous mnemonic (memory) devices. My child attends American Prep in Draper and LEARNS BELL TO BELL. In addition to choral responses with chanting and singing, these students write challenging reports, conduct experiments, and engage in other types of critical thinking. The school has the scores to prove that it provides an exemplary education for its students. Rather than criticize, other districts should at least be required to examine the "best practices" of American Preparatory Academy. Legislators? School Boards? Consider yourselves challenged--at least by this parent.

Singing and chanting? What is wrong with that?
Choral responses are a research-based practice that are part of direct instruction. While typically used for special education, they are proven to increase learning and retention. Why are you finding fault with something that actually improves success?
What methods are you suggesting that can boast the same results?

Anonymous was joking. It's funny.

Feel Good Intentions:

You err. American Preparatory Academy is being praised because of a PLAN that they are IMPLEMENTING. Not intentions. There is a difference.

Deseret News published that "American Preparatory Academy has a good track record in Draper, where it boasts a wait list of 3,200. Last year, 95 percent of students scored proficient on the state's language arts exam." That is relevant information, considering the subject matter of the article. That statement is not a judgement, and nobody is judging The School for New Americans based on that information.

You also say that "perhaps Carolyn Sharette conveniently forgot that this article is NOT about her main Draper campus and the data associated with that school." Sharette doesn't even mention any data associated with that school! The Deseret News did in a paragraph preceding a quote by Sharette! Sharette just said that her school in Draper is accomplishing amazing things and that she wanted to offer that to new Americans.

I don't see any presumptions or inconsistencies in Sharette's statements. Your statements, however, could use a revision. Please try to think and type at the same time. Or at least in sequence.