A charter school could be on its way to Dolores soon as a group begins researching a STEAM school in the areas. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.
Kay Phelps, a teacher for 31 years, is working to bring a technology and science-based school to Dolores.
Phelps gave a presentation to the Dolores Board of Education Monday night, hoping the charter would be with the Dolores School District.
As a nation we are lagging behind in science literacy, Phelps told the board. STEAM would be a way of preparing students for the 21st century.
In the past, these technology schools went by the acronym STEM, the A was recently added, Phelps explained, to add art to the curriculum.
A lot of scientists use art to convey big abstract ideas, she said.
Phelps said she has a charter grant to visit other STEAM schools to get an idea how one would look in Dolores.
I wonder if you would consider the possibility of a charter, Phelps asked the board. We are not ready to submit an intent to apply. Right now, we are just visiting schools.
Dolores School District Superintendent Scott Cooper said he was worried where the charter school would be located.
It is often an issue of a facility, Cooper said.
Phelps did not say whether they had a location for the school, but did say she had a target date of 2013 for the opening of the school. She added that an application may be up for board approval by August of late summer 2012.
She also said the school would likely be for lower grades, kindergarten through fifth grade.
Children when they are young are so curious. This charter will focus as inquiry and project-based learning, she said.
Phelps added that the charter may help those families who are out of district and on the waiting list to get into the schools that were recently accredited with distinction.
Also Monday night, the school board heard a complaint from a parent about Power School software. The parent said she liked Power School, but that some teachers dont use it as much as they should and it was difficult to tell how her son was doing in some classes.
Cooper discussed the BEST grant and said in January the board is going to discuss the grant heavily. There will be a community meeting on Jan. 17 to decide what projects go on the list.
The size of this project could be tailored down to $5 million and that could double our odds of winning, Cooper said.
So it looks like in January the board will look at the list of projects and decide what can and cant go on the list with the help from the community.
