Horizon Science Academy in Des Moines would do the same. Many of those fall under the same name of Horizon Science Academy.Ĭhief strategic growth and communications officer, Chris Murphy, said Concept charter schools put a heavy focus on subjects like science, math and technology. The Schaumburg, Illinois, nonprofit has run charter schools since the late 1990s and currently oversees 31 schools in six Midwestern states including Ohio, Illinois and Missouri. And, unlike the others, it would contract with an out-of-state charter management organization called Concept Schools. It could eventually grow to be a full K-12 school. “These kids, if they can get some extra special attention, especially in a program that is STEM oriented, that could really change their outcomes professionally in a really big way,” Richer said.Ĭompared to the other new charters approved under the law - both specialized high school programs - Horizon Science Academy would be more conventional. Richer said she wants to give students another option. Schools in that part of the city also lag behind state academic standards. Richer and Brooks hope to draw low-income students from schools in north Des Moines, where students are largely Black or Latino. Enrollment will be open only to students from Des Moines Public Schools. The latter is the case for Horizon.ĭes Moines business people Sunnie Richer and Roger Brooks are the schools’ founders. That law allows for charter schools - which cannot charge tuition or use selective enrollment - to be created by local public school districts or by independent founding groups. Horizon Science Academy is only the third new charter school to be approved under a law passed two years ago. Expanding publicly-funded charter schools was a key victory in that agenda.Īs Reynolds pushes state lawmakers to pass a plan creating state-funded Education Savings Accounts for students at private schools, the approval of a new charter school is a reminder that other changes made to increase parent choice in the state’s K-12 education system are still playing out. The issue has been a priority for Republican Gov. The approval comes at a time when school choice has come back to dominate discussion in the Iowa Legislature. The organizers behind Horizon Science Academy believe it can improve learning for students currently struggling at their neighborhood schools. The Iowa State Board of Education has approved a new charter school for Des Moines that will be the first in the state to work with an outside management company.
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