AUGUSTA – A public charter elementary school in Lewiston was approved Tuesday by the Maine Charter Commission.
In a 6-1 vote, it approved Acadia Academy, the first charter school in the Lewiston-Auburn area. The school, backed by the John F. Murphy Homes, will be open to students in the L-A area at no charge because public charter schools are financed with state money.
On Tuesday, the commission also approved a second charter school, Snow Pond Arts Academy in Sidney near Augusta. It will open this fall for grades nine to 12.
That brings the total number of charter schools to nine. Maine law allows up to 10.
As planned, Acadia will open with about 100 students in grades pre-kindergarten to grade two this fall.
“I’m very excited,” said Acadia Academy board member Tracy Gendron Turner, whose father, local developer David Gendron, is donating a building for the school.
“This is exciting for our community, for the parents and students of our community to have this opportunity of school choice,” she said. “It’s going to be a great thing.”
Plans are that the school will open in a Westminster Street building off Lisbon Street, Turner said. The school plans to eventually add grades three to six.
“We’re pleased,” Christopher Brann, president of Acadia’s board of trustees, said after Tuesday’s vote. Brann is a vice president at Mechanic Savings Bank.
Thousands of hours have been invested to develop “a thoughtful, meaningful plan to put together a school that meets the needs of our community in a different way,” Brann said.
What the school will offer that traditional public schools don’t, he said, will be small classrooms with hands-on learning through experience. “By finding things children are interested in, the teacher can work with that child on an individual level,” Brann said.
The school will also offer optional summer programs three days a week “so kids don’t slip back,” Turner said.
Before Tuesday’s vote, a three-member review team recommended approval, finding that Acadia’s application met the definition of a public charter school, had the ability to be autonomous with the John F. Murphy Homes over key decisions such as finance, personnel, curriculum and instruction, that it would be governed by an independent board.
Last year, Acadia Academy was rejected by the commission over concerns it lacked enough autonomy from the Murphy homes.
The review team Tuesday also concluded Acadia demonstrated it would create a school with high standards for students, close achievement gaps by providing small classes with an emphasis on social and emotional skill development for students, that the school could provide alternative learning for students not thriving in traditional school settings.
The board’s relationship with Gendron and Gendron shows the proposed school has a meaningful connection with the community, the review team concluded.
Commissioner Shelley Reed said she doesn’t support approval. “This is a school that has woken me up at night,” she said.
Reed said was born and raised in Lewiston, attended Lewiston schools. She later taught in Auburn and worked in alternative education for students at risk for the Maine Department of Education. “A lot of that time was focused on Lewiston.”
She questioned whether Acadia Academy teachers would be able to address the high numbers of poor students and English language learners from immigrant families in Lewiston-Auburn.
The fact that Acadia is not providing students with breakfast and lunch concerned Reed. When the school doors open in Lewiston-Auburn children rush in to eat, she said. How can students do well in school if they’re hungry, she asked.
Living in poverty isn’t one aspect of a student’s life, she said, “it is their life. It comes with its own rules and culture.”
While Acadia plans to deliver rigorous academics and behavioral and social development, what’s also needed is professional development to help teachers understand behaviors related to poverty and diverse cultures, Reed said.
After the meeting, Brann addressed her concerns. “There may not be a dedicated lunch program on day one, but that is our goal,” he said. Students who are hungry will be fed, Brann said. “We recognize you can’t teach a child who’s hungry.”
As to Reed’s concern about the staff not having enough understanding of teaching the poor and students learning English, Brann said, “We have people on our board who have taught in the Lewiston schools who have English language learning backgrounds, ELL educations. We’re not without that expertise.”
With the vote to open, Acadia Academy is no longer in limbo and is in a better position to fill in gaps, to find community partners, community support “and start answering questions,” Brann said.
AUGUSTA — While approving the public charter school Acadia Academy to open in the fall in Lewiston-Auburn, the Maine Charter Commission set eight requirements the school must meet by Feb. 1. They include:
* It cannot enroll grades four, five and six students until the commission has reviewed curriculum materials.
* It must also have arm’s-length contracts with the Murphy homes and the ability to terminate agreements, and provide copies of arm’s-length contracts on its lease or mortgage and other finances.
* Acadia Academy must provide evidence it has reached out to the community in all social and economic demographic groups to raise awareness.
* No owner, director, board member or John F. Murphy employee may serve as a member of the school’s board of directors, its advisory group or employee. The exception is the agreement that the Murphy homes will provide business services and the educational program.
Christopher Brann, president of Acadia Academy’s Board of Trustees, said meeting those conditions will not be a problem.
“We recognize that we’re not done yet,” Brann said. “We still have a lot of work to do in terms of negotiating the contract, set up a successful and meaningful school. Our greatest challenge to this point has been being in limbo, not being able to say we are going to do this.”
Statewide there are seven charter schools with 1,500 students: Baxter Academy for Technology in Portland, Cornville Regional Charter School, Fiddlehead School of Arts and Science in Gray, Harpswell Coastal Academy, Maine Academy of Natural Sciences in Hinckley, two virtual middle-high schools, Maine Connections Academy with offices in South Portland and Maine Virtual Academy with offices in Augusta.
For more information: http://acadiaacademy.org
www.maine.gov/csc
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