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A new charter school will open in Springfield in August for students in kindergarten through seventh grade.
Clark Preparatory Academy, 501 S. Wittenberg Ave., expects to serve between 150-250 students in its first year, said Lisa Davis, interim director of the school.
Clark Preparatory will be one of three charter schools in the city when it opens.
The free, public charter school places high importance on “rigorous academic instruction” and has a curriculum that is aligned to the Ohio Common Core Standards, Davis said.
“We tend to focus on engaging our students (with) hands-on learning, making sure that they’re actively involved in their learning,” she said. The school will be very high-tech with lots of computers in the classroom, Davis added.
The other charter schools in Springfield are Fitness Academy and Cliff Park High School.
The Springfield Academy of Excellence is expected to close at the end of the school year because the state dropped its sponsorship. The school, which has more than 250 students, scored far below the performance standards expected in its sponsorship contract, according to a letter from the Ohio Department of Education to the school.
The ODE’s Office of School Sponsorship entered a one-year contract with the academy for the 2014-15 school year. To be considered for renewal, the academy was expected to meet or exceed standards set forth in the contract, according to the letter dated Jan. 30. But the school only met one of the five primary standards.
Springfield City School District Superintendent David Estrop said Clark Preparatory will open about two or three years after the district was asked to remove a deed restriction that was on the property that prevented the building from being used as a school.
Clark Preparatory will open as the population in Springfield and Clark County is declining. But at the same time Springfield City School District student population is on the rise, particularly among elementary students, Estrop said.
The district has a graduating class of about 400 seniors. The average number entering kindergarten classes is about 700.
“A lot of people are choosing to send their children to Springfield City, starting with kindergarten,” Estrop said.
“I don’t question that those choices that people are making have had an impact, that and the lack of performance of some of the charter schools have had an impact on the number of charters that have closed,” Estrop said.
An enrollment event will be held at 4 p.m. June 3.
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