Fifty charter schools in the next 10 years. That’s the goal for Hillsdale College’s charter school initiative.
Two schools in the Barney Charter School Initiative, a Hillsdale College project started in 2009 to start up charter schools, opened this fall: the Estancia Valley Classical Academy in Moriarty, N.M., and the Founders Classical Academy in Lewisville, Texas.
Stephen Barney, the man behind the Barney Family Foundation, which largely funds the initiative, said he has wanted to see change in the public school system for a long time.
At the ribbon cutting for the Founders Classical Academy on Nov. 2, college President Larry Arnn opened his speech telling how Barney had hounded him for nearly a decade, trying to enlist his help in reforming K-12 public education in the United States.
“Finally the day came when I said, ‘OK I’m tired of it, I think I know something we could do,’” Arnn said. “We know how to teach and we know how to run a school. Maybe we can help start some charter schools.”
Both of the academies opened for grades K-10 this year and have one or two sections of each grade. The schools are expected to add 11th grade next year and 12th grade the following year.
They also plan to add one more section to each grade in the future.
This year, the Estancia Valley Classical Academy has about 300 students and its charter allows for approximately 550 total. The Founders Classical Academy has about 500 students enrolled this year and is allowed to max out at 700 students.
Both of the schools currently have waiting lists and are expected to reach full enrollment in about five years, said Phillip Kilgore, director of the Charter School Development Program.
“We think probably mid-700s is about the largest size a school like this should be,” Kilgore said. “If it gets too big, it will lose certain characteristics and qualities that are key to a good school.”
The first three schools opened through the initiative – the third is set to open next year in Savannah, Ga. – received grants from the college. The following schools will not receive grants but they will get the college’s support and advice, Kilgore said.
This support and advice will come in the form of Hillsdale College professors helping to create and implement the school’s academic program through curriculum design and teacher training. In addition, they will all be officially endorsed by Hillsdale College.
To help create the curriculums for the new charter schools, Terrence Moore, assistant professor of history and one of the main movers behind the initiative, draws from previous experience.
Before teaching at Hillsdale, Moore helped establish Ridgeview Classical Schools in Colorado, where he served as principal for seven years.
Moore said he has wanted to reform public education since he was in college. He said he and Hillsdale College, through the initiative, are attempting to make public schools once again “servants of the republic” to create “good citizens and good human beings” out of its students.
“I was not challenged in high school except by one teacher and students nowadays aren’t, nor do they learn anything of value,” Moore said. “We are trying to rescue the schools from progressive education, which hijacked them about 100 years ago.”
In addition to the third school opening in Georgia, two others are expected to open next year: one in Bentonville, Ark., and the other in Centerville, Texas.
Starting in 2014, the college will begin trying to open five schools per year.
Arnn has been present at both opening ceremonies, however, Kilgore said the president’s attendance at all future ceremonies may be impossible.
“Arnn enjoys walking around and talking with the students and teachers,” Kilgore said. “He said that he can go to Washington and meet with congressmen and folks on the hill, but places like this – starting a good school – are where a republic is being strengthened.”
