University to help create regional technology charter school
8/23/2011 12:44:03 PM
(Aug. 23, 2011) Thanks to Race to the Top funds, North Georgia College & State University and three area school systems will work together to create a regional technology charter school that serves students in Hall, Lumpkin and White counties.
A $50,000 grant from the Race to the Top Innovation Fund, which was awarded earlier this month, will fund the costs of planning and designing a high-impact regional charter school with specific focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Planning will include drafting a charter petition for the academy, which will target 400-600 students a year.
Expenses related to planning the Regional Charter STEM Academy could include travel to other STEM academies, consultant fees and supplies. North Georgia serves on the planning leadership team for the academy and will assist in curriculum development. Other members of the leadership team include the superintendents of the three school systems, Will Schofield in Hall, Dewey Moye in Lumpkin and Dr. Paul Shaw in White, and three high school principals, Joe Gheesling at North Hall High, John Osborne at White County High and Dr. Michael D. Tinney at Lumpkin County High.
The academy will be located at North Hall High School and accept students from Lumpkin and White counties as well. The opening of the school will be scheduled for August 2014.
Because of the influx of high-tech industry in the region, one goal of the academy is to create an "engineering pipeline" in northeast Georgia to prepare to pursue additional education, internships and careers in technology, according to the grant proposal. A second goal of the academy is to make new opportunities available for economically disadvantaged students in the area, many of whom will be first-generation college students.
The Regional Charter STEM Academy isn't the first collaboration between the university and area school systems, according to Dr. Bob Michael, dean of the School of Education.
"Our science education faculty members have been working closely over the past two years with several Hall County elementary schools in support of their science programs," Michael said. "This work includes providing professional development workshops for teachers and placing North Georgia's early childhood and special education majors in these schools with special focus on science, integrating science education course work with the curricula of the schools."
Hall County already has eight charter schools and White County is a charter system; Lumpkin began the process of becoming a charter system a year ago. Michael called the creation of a multi-county partnership like the Regional Charter STEM Academy "very rare" and wasn't aware of another in existence.
Through the Innovation Fund, the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget awards grants to partnerships between schools, institutions of higher education, businesses and nonprofit organizations. Five grants were announced earlier this month, out of more than 70 proposals that were received.
"The Race to the Top Innovation Fund is a unique opportunity to fuel the innovative ideas of education leaders from across the state," Gov. Nathan Deal said in announcing the grant. "The projects selected for awards during this first round represent truly innovative and collaborative approaches to educating students."
The Race to the Top Fund is a $4 billion federal grant opportunity to support new approaches to improve schools, encouraging states that are concentrating on reform and innovation.