New WNC charter schools proposed

ASHEVILLE –
Planning is underway for Haywood County's first charter school, and proposals have also been submitted to the state for new charters in Buncombe and Henderson counties.

The state Board of Education recently agreed to move Shining Rock Classical Academy: A Challenge Foundation Academy into "the planning year phase." If it gets final approval, the school will open next August, according to Ben Butler, school director.

Charter schools are public schools, funded with tax dollars, but with more freedom that traditional public schools.

The Shining Rock Classical Academy is affiliated with TeamCFA, which has more than a dozen schools nationwide including Brevard Academy and Lake Lure Classical Academy.

Enrollment drops at Buncombe County schools

The TeamCFA website says the schools' "most important objective is to create a culture of lifelong learners and engaged citizens."

Butler said the focus is on academic rigor. Volunteerism will also be incorporated into the curriculum.

"We plan to have our kids be very well prepared to go on to college, to technical training or to the military," he said.

Plans call for the school to start with kindergarten through sixth grade and add grades each year until it becomes a K-12 school, Butler said. Total enrollment would be around 700 students.

The school has not yet identified a location. "We've got a few (possible sites) we are looking at," Butler said. "We are still fleshing that out."

Butler said he hopes the school will be within five minutes of Waynesville. In addition to Haywood students, he also expects to get students from neighboring Jackson County.

Applications have also been filed for another new charter school in Buncombe County called Asheville Math and Science Academy and a new charter school in Henderson County called the FernLeaf Community Charter School.

The Asheville Math and Science Academy submitted an application last year, but it was not approved. They reapplied this year.

Although Buncombe County recently opened a STEM high school, which focuses on science, technology, engineering and math, the county does not have a STEM school for the lower grades, said Yavuz Koruk, board chairman for the school.

Koruk said the charter school would start with kindergarten through sixth grade and then add grades until eventually becoming a K-12 school. Total enrollment would be more than 600.

Officials involved with FernLeaf Community Charter School could not be reached to discuss plans for that school.

The two applications were among 40 submitted to the state Department of Public Instruction.

Those applications will be reviewed for completeness by the state Office of Charter Schools before they go to the Charter School Advisory Board for review, according to Sara Clark, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Instruction.

The advisory board would then make recommendations to the state Board of Education, Clark said. If approved, the schools would open in 2016.

Two new charter schools opened earlier this year in Buncombe County.

Find out more

Shining Rock Classical Academy will hold a series of information meetings for parents. The meetings will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 2, Oct. 16, Nov. 6 and Nov. 20 at the Old Armory in Waynesville, 44 Boundary St., Waynesville. Find out more at http://shiningrockclassicalacademy.com/ or contact Ben Butler at bbutler@srca.teamcfa.org.