Editorial from GR Press Friday March 28, 2008

Filling the Charter High School Gap
Friday, March 28, 2008
Charter schools can be valuable alternatives to traditional public schools. That's why local families choosing to educate their children in charter elementary and middle schools are excited about a planned charter high school. This is an option they've wanted -- and deserved -- for a long time. The idea is to create a school with a national reputation for excellence. This community needs all the innovative, effective schools and teachers it can get. From a strong public, charter and private mix, parents can choose what's best for their child.

Twenty years after the proposed creation of charters, they clearly have a strong presence and play a prominent role in education today. The smaller schools, ambitious educational programs and insistence on parental involvement have resonated with families looking for alternatives. Locally, there has been tremendous pressure from families to address the demand for a charter high school.

Financing has been the major impediment to high school charters because they're more expensive to operate. Charters have kept many families, who aren't satisfied with the public school system, from fleeing to the suburbs -- at least until their children reach ninth grade.

West Michigan entrepreneur J.C. Huizenga plans to open the Grand River Preparatory High School this fall at the former Kelloggsville Christian School, 264 52nd St. SE, in Kentwood. Mr. Huizenga should be commended for his lifelong commitment to education and filling this gap. He founded National Heritage Academies (NHA), which has 55 K-8 focused charters operating in six states, 35 in Michigan. This new school is separate from NHA.

Gateway Middle/High School was the only charter in the city offering high school grades, but it closed last June. Charters thatinclude grades K-12 are in Cedar Springs, Byron Center and Walker and there's Black River Public School in Holland. Wyoming Public Schools is the only public system that runs a charter high school in the area. Against that backdrop of a limited number of high schools, this announcement is a good sign.

Grand River Prep will open with about 200 freshmen, with plans to add one grade per year until 2012. Eligible eighth-graders graduating from three charters -- Vista, Excel and Vanguard academies -- will get enrollment preference. All are managed by NHA. The site is close to the homes of students in feeder schools and there's room to expand on its 14-acres. While the focus is on a fall opening, organizational issues are still being worked out. The school could open readily without its own charter, if considered an extension of an existing academy. Interested families were wisely urged to have a Plan B.

Grand Rapids Public Schools has lost vital cash as its enrollment has declined annually, in part because of charters. News of this charter comes as GRPS is working to improve teaching and learning and launching two specialized schools. Interest is high in its University Preparatory Academy and the Ellington Academy of Arts and Technology, opening this fall, as a part of the Centers of Innovation initiative. Charters are not the sole solution to perceived short-comings in public schools. Many charters have done exceptionally well; others haven't.

Parents should have a healthy menu of good schools to educate their children, and this charter high school would add to those choices. That's great for kids, the community and the state.