The 90-year-old school building at 3411 Semmes Ave. is just a stone’s throw from Forest Hill Park. Although it was closed in 2006, ending its run as Patrick Henry Elementary, there’s a revolutionary spirit at work to reopen it as the home of Virginia’s first charter elementary school—Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts.
The science side of the school will use its proximity to the park and the James River to offer unique opportunities to study nature.
Charter schools are not to be confused with private schools. Thus, they are not part of the debate over vouchers. Charter schools are public schools granted some degree of autonomy to operate outside the ordinary guidelines, while still adhering to certain standards of academic achievement set by the public education officials.
So, PHSSA is open to any family in Richmond with elementary-age children; to be accepted there are no auditions or tests to pass. There are no fees to apply and there are no tuition payments.
"Not every school is a good fit for every student," said Kristen Larson, a PHSSA spokesperson, "and charter schools provide an alternative teaching method or environment for students to learn."
Parents wanting their children in on this bold experiment in public education have been applying for admission since Dec. 3. The deadline for applications is Feb. 12. About 130 students will be enrolled this year; should more than that number apply, a lottery will be held.
Applications are available online at patrickhenrycharter.org. According to the Web site devoted to the charter school, here’s the plan in a nutshell:
Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts is a kindergarten through fifth-grade school based on meaningful parent, educator, and community involvement. The school will provide the children of our diverse community with an academically rigorous science- and arts-based curriculum that emphasizes environmental awareness and social responsibility.
Virginia has been perceived as less hospitable to the concept of charter schools than it might be, in some part because it gives local school boards the say-so over the process of launching a charter school. As an alternative, some states use independent bodies to ultimately decide which citizens/parents deserve public funding for their plan and which don’t. Since, at times, the education establishment has been less than open-minded about publicly funded education options that it doesn’t tightly control, that policy difference seems rather enlightened.
And, help may be on the way for charter schools proponents, as Governor Bob McDonnell has said that expanding the number of charter schools in Virginia will be a priority for his administration.
Part of the resistance to charter schools has been fueled by the perception that they will undermine traditional approaches to public education and drain off funds needed for such. Supporters of the charter school movement prefer to see it as the establishing of community-run laboratories where alternative methods of education can be tested.
The school year for PHSSA begins in July and is divided into quarters. The parents or guardians of students are required to contribute at least six hours of work on behalf of the school per quarter. Highlights of the curriculum will include emphasizing environmental science as a core subject and community-taught units for intercessions with artists-in-residence.
One of the main reasons the building was closed by Richmond Public Schools was that it was in need of costly renovations, in order for it to be wheelchair accessible. The solution to that problem is still being worked out. Parts of the building will not be used the first year.
"Regarding ADA accessibility, [Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts] had an assessment conducted on the building in the fall and we have plans to open the school in a phased-in process," said Larson. "For year one, we will have about 130-150 students and will use two floors of the school. Each year we'll add students and at year three, at full capacity, enrollment will be 358 students."
Meanwhile, this month, representatives of PHSSA will be reaching out to parents interested in the new school. They will be at four locations to hand out student applications or answer questions. The times and locations: Sat., Jan. 23, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. at Westover Hills Library, 1408 Westover Hill Blvd.; Sat., Jan. 23, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. at Food Lion, 5702 Jefferson Davis Hwy.; Sun., Jan. 24, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. at Wal-Mart, 7901 Brook Rd.; Sat., Jan. 30, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Kroger, 901 N. Lombardy St.
There will also be an open house meeting at PHSSA on Feb. 4, at 8 p.m.
From the standpoint of the neighbors in that part of town—Woodland Heights, Westover Hills, etc.—who are concerned about the value of their properties, a school building open for business is generally seen as a plus for the community. In fact, that’s integral to what got the whole project started.
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