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Charter, challenge schools offer other opportunities
By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA © St. Petersburg Times, published October 29, 2000 Next year, two schools will join Clearwater's Frontier Elementary in offering a year-round elementary program. Maximo and Gulfport Elementary schools will remain open 210 days each year, compared to the typical 180 days of instruction. Parents who want their non-zoned children to attend this program must apply for a special attendance permit. Three charter schools are part of the county school system but are operated independently by the individual school's board of directors. The school system oversees charter school student performance on an annual basis. Enrollment in the county's charter schools, now at 138 children, is open to all students. Interested parents should apply directly to a particular charter school. If more applications are received by Dec. 1 than there is space available, the school must hold a lottery and establish a waiting list. Parents must provide their own transportation. Academie da Vinci in Dunedin focuses on the arts for children in the first through fifth grades. Whole Child at UPARC in Clearwater serves children between the ages of 3 and 5 who have developmental disabilities and special needs for early intervention, stimulation, integration, inclusion and socialization in a "reverse mainstream" setting. The newly opened Athenian Academy in Dunedin offers immersion in the Greek language throughout the school's elementary curriculum. The first charter middle school, the Bay Village Center for Education, to be located in St. Petersburg, has been approved by the School Board and is expected to open next year. Five other new charter schools are pending approval. One would serve dropout-prone high school students, a middle school would be operated by the city of Oldsmar, and three would serve elementary-age students. Several area employers or governments support elementary "partnership" schools, where parents and students can work and learn at the same location. The programs also offer before- and after-school care. There are five partnership schools: Bay Park, for K-3 children of Bayfront Medical Center employees (satellite of Campbell Park Elementary); Honeywell, for K-2 children (satellite of Pinellas Central Elementary); Clearwater/Pinellas Government at North Ward Elementary for K-5 children of county and city employees; and Morton Plant-Mease at South Ward Elementary in Clearwater, which serves K-5 children of Morton Plant or Mease Hospital employees. Parents who work for an employer sponsoring a partnership school are automatically eligible to enroll their children and should apply directly to the school. Placement is automatic if space is available. Otherwise, the school is required to hold a lottery and create a waiting list. Parents are responsible for their own transportation. Challenge schools offer an alternative setting for elementary students who face failure in the regular school program. The St. Petersburg Challenge School and Robinson Challenge School in Clearwater strengthen basic skills and personal development for fourth- and fifth-graders. The schools also provide parental support and coordinate with community agencies and business partnerships. Enrollment in a challenge school is determined jointly by the staff of the child's zoned school and the challenge school. Interested parents should discuss placement with their child's school principal. Five special-needs schools serve children who have physical, mental and learning disabilities that cannot be addressed in the regularly zoned school. They are Hamilton Disston School in Gulfport; Nina Harris Exceptional Student Education Center and Richard L. Sanders School in Pinellas Park; and the Calvin Hunsinger School and Paul B. Stephens Exceptional Center in Clearwater. Disabled children must be evaluated by school officials before assignment to an exceptional-education center. All public elementary schools do offer exceptional education as part of the regular school program. Parents whose children have medical or other needs that cannot be met at their regular school can apply for special attendance permits to any zoned school in the district. Attendance permits are also granted to students with hardships, or who want to enroll in a themed school (such as Clearwater's Frontier Thematic Elementary School for Technology). Special attendance permits cannot be used to enroll students in magnet, fundamental or charter schools. If a permit is approved, parents are responsible for transportation to the new school. Special attendance applications for the coming school year normally must be submitted between March and the last day of school. Individual medical or hardship cases are considered throughout the year. Most permits are approved if space is available and the transfer does not upset the school's racial balance. Last year, 7,312 permits were approved countywide out of 9,586 applications.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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