Momentum is rapidly building in support of a charter high school in Tower-Soudan and the development team is moving forward towards that goal.
Four members of the team, Jodi Summit, Muriel Scott, Becky Gawboy, and I, attended a two-day charter school training in the Twin Cities last Friday and Saturday and we all learned a lot about the job ahead of us.
It's not a minor undertaking, but it's a manageable one and with over 150 charter schools now in operation in Minnesota, we have plenty of working models to choose from.
We also have some innovative ideas that we think have the potential to make our particular charter extremely successful and valuable for the community. One of the messages we heard during last weekend's training was that charter schools need to become more entrepreneurial if they are going to thrive in an era of ever-tighter budgets. That's right up our alley, because we were already envisioning an entrepreneurial model that will tap other sources of funding to help pay some operational costs.
For one, we're looking at implementing our own food service, which would prepare nutritious home-cooked meals for our students (in place of the highly-processed, high fat foods the district currently serves). It would also provide a regular senior dining site and possibly meals on wheels. Students could take part in the senior dining component as part of a community service requirement that will be included in the charter school curriculum. And there's more. We're also looking at providing a day care facility, which would be run by certified adults, but could also provide opportunities for students interested in education or child development-related careers.
Essentially, we're looking at a shared, multi-function facility that becomes a focal point for a wide range of community activities and where students become important and well-integrated players in the success of their communities.
That's what education is supposed to be about— creating good, useful citizens, with the skills to be successful in whatever they choose to pursue.
I'll be posting much more on the charter as we move forward in the process. For now, readers should be aware that the Tower City Council discussed the charter school at their Dec. 14 meeting and the city is willing to do whatever it can (including financial help) to help the charter school become a reality.
