Charter school holds meeting

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006

The founders of the Bay Arts & Sciences public charter school held a meeting Sunday, Nov. 12, at St. Paul Episcopal Church in Prince Frederick to discuss the new charter school which is scheduled to open in 2008.

According to the charter school’s literature, the Bay Arts & Sciences charter school would aim to provide public education in an environment open to ‘‘creativity, imagination and self-directed learning.” The school would provide a deep focus on the Chesapeake Bay.

Karen Mittelman, the founder of the school which will begin serving sixth- through eighth-graders in 2008, said students at Bay Arts & Sciences could expect to see smaller classes and a top-of-the-line curriculum.

‘‘[Bay Arts & Sciences] is a place where education happens inside the classroom as well as outside,” Mittelman said. Mittelman said she and the rest of the board for the charter school have a good relationship with the Calvert County public school system.

The school board has not approved or disapproved of the school..

Charter schools are public schools open to all students. They are publicly funded and according to the Maryland Charter School Network, they have increased autonomy in exchange for accountability. Charter schools are accountable to the authorizer who grants the charter, the public that funds the school and the parents who enroll their children in the school.

Because the charter school would be a public school, it is accountable to the same standards as the rest of the public schools in Calvert County, including standards-based testing such as Maryland School Assessments and High School Assessments.

Parents came to the meeting with many questions prepared. Many were concerned about the location of the school and transportation.

Mittelman said like with other public schools, transportation would be provided. She said the first year students would ride the school bus to their designated area school and from there a bus would take them to the charter school.

While there are no concrete plans for a building location, Mittelman said the ideal location for the school would be either Prince Frederick or Huntingtown.

Barbara Kohn, of Sunderland came to the meeting to find out if the school would be a good place for her 10-year-old twin boys.

‘‘I am intrigued by the idea,” Kohn said. She said she would be even more interested if the school were already established. Kohn’s son Devin said he is very interested in the charter school.

‘‘I really want to go,” he said. Devin said he was attracted to the hands-on approach to learning. ‘‘I like to do a lot of activities and experiments,” he said.

For more information on the Bay Arts & Sciences charter school contact Karen Mittelman or Brenda Damario at kmittelman@comcast.net or brendadamario@comcast.net. For more information on the Maryland Charter School Network, visit mdcharternetwork.org.

E-mail Gretchen Phillips at gphillips@somdnews.com.