The History of Fritsche becoming a charter school . . .
In the spirit of our long-standing philosophy of continuous improvement for increased student achievement, Fritsche Middle School obtained charter school status within MPS. We are now one of two charter schools within the district. This designation represents a natural progression for our school as we have taken substantial steps in recent years in school improvement issues, making decisions and assuming ownership and responsibility for continued student achievement at the local level. Prior to a final board vote on the issue, a charter school review board consisting of board members, community representatives, parents and district personnel visited Fritsche to learn more about the culture of the school and to determine the level of commitment to embracing charter school status. The visit included student escorted tours of the building, testimonials by Fritsche parents, students and community members and an intense question and answer period where the review board posed specific questions in order to fully endorse our application.
As a result of the positive experience of the review board's visitation, the School Board voted 8-0 to grant Fritsche charter school status at the June 3, 1999 special hearing. The unanimous vote illustrated the level of confidence and support for Fritsche's charter school status.
Under state law, an MPS charter school falls within the guidelines of the following definition:
It is a public school created by contract. Regardless of whether an MPS charter school is or is not an instrumentality of MPS, there are certain guidelines the charter school must follow:
The charter school must be nonsectarian in all facets. In keeping with the very premise on which public education was built, there are no tuition fees. Admission policies are non-discriminatory and enroll students on a purely voluntary basis. Those students who reside within the attendance area of the charter school are given preference in admission to the school. And finally, the school will be held, at a minimum, to the proficiency and performance standards that are applied to other MPS schools.
An examination of the advantages and disadvantages resulting as we assume charter status offers further clarification of what this change will mean for the Fritsche community.
Advantages:
1. Becoming a charter school removes us from much of the bureaucracy of central services.
2. Under the charter school contract, the school community will operate the educational program and set policy rules and procedures which directly affect the operational program.
3. The charter school can develop its own student discipline policy. However, the school must adhere to the board's expulsion policy.
4. The charter school will have full budget carry-over capabilities.
5. The charter school can develop its own assessment system.
6. The charter school's governance council has binding authority on the development of the budget and educational plan.
7. The charter school can set up its own governance council structure.
8. The principal's evaluation will reside at the local level.
9. The charter school process will validate the staff's professional growth and authenticate our shared decision making approach to teaching and learning.
10. The charter is exempt from most of the State Department of Education rules and regulations.
Disadvantages:
1. Becoming a charter school would impose additional work on school committees if it is determined necessary to crate policies contrary to board policies.
With 85% of the staff initially in favor of embarking upon this move toward charter school status, it is obvious that the staff is determined to make this a winning proposition. The disadvantage listed above is perceived as a positive by staff as they view the ability to create new policies as a vehicle to enhance the education of our students and increase total staff buy-in.
As a charter school within MPS, Fritsche will be designated as an Investigative Learning Center. This educational approach incorporates an integrated view of learning with the student responsible for sequences of learning in a spiraling curriculum structure. While insisting upon the thorough study of the various disciplines, it accentuates the inter-relatedness of them. Students are asked to consider issues and problems in their widest scope, and to realize that good solutions often draw upon insights one has acquired from many sources. Put another way, this program shuns the fragmentation of knowledge when students move from science to history to mathematics to technology as if the classes had nothing to do with each other. Students will collaborate on both self initiated and instructor initiated projects. Our block schedule provides extended time for instruction to occur at a natural pace for absorption of material and unlimited depth of knowledge based on student interest.
At the start of our charter school process, Fritsche personnel drafted and submitted a planning grant proposal to the Department of Public Instruction under the auspices of the district. We were notified in May that we were approved for the grant and funds received under the grant will be used for further development, research and refinement of the charter school proposal. The grant monies will provide opportunities for staff to attend national conferences and conduct site visitations to locations throughout the country which employ the philosophies of national school reform models such as Schools for Thought, the Socratic seminar, the National Writing Project, Integration of Technology and the Micro Society. As a result of this research, the Fritsche community and staff will make a determination as to which components will become part of our new model of educating students.
Members of the Fritsche community eagerly look toward the increased latitude this new status will provide and will celebrate and publicly share our successes along the way. We view teaching and learning as continuing to improve through charter school designation as our school takes total ownership for educating our students. Freed from state and board restrictions, we envision an even better opportunity for students to become successful citizens of the twenty-first century.
