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Plans gel for charter school
Schenectady area considered for new classrooms that would eventually enroll 500
By SCOTT WALDMAN Staff writer
Published 12:00 a.m., Thursday, July 28, 2011

SCHENECTADY -- The city may once again have a charter school in time for the 2012-13 school year.

Plans for the Eximius Academy Charter School indicate it will eventually enroll about 500 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. School spokeswoman Pam Swanigan would not reveal the planned location, except to say that sites near, and within, the city are being considered.

School officials withdrew an earlier 192-page application to locate the school at the former Draper School in Rotterdam, after opposition from neighbors and a disabled veterans group that wanted to purchase the property for residences. Earlier this month, Eximius filed a new letter of intent to locate the school in the Scotia-Glenville school district.

Swanigan said 300 parents and community members have already signed on to support the school. She said their goal is simply to close the massive achievement gap between white and minority students and to raise the graduation rates for black students in New York.

"We are grassroots, from the neighborhoods, from the community," she said. "We care deeply about the quality of education for children who are minorities and economically disadvantaged."

The curriculum at Eximius, which means "extraordinary" in Latin, would focus on science, technology, engineering and math. The school would have single genders and multiple ages in each classroom, have longer schools days Monday through Thursday, and require students to wear uniforms. The school year would extend throughout the summer, with just a few weeks off....................>>>>....................>>>>...................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Plans-gel-for-charter-school-1618602.php#ixzz1TOVKeBLQ

I'm surprised that Joe Allen hasn't stepped up and help put this type of school in Hamilton Hill because that's where it should be.

Put a Charter in the Hill or in MP. Give the children in those areas the opportunity to get a decent education meanwhile not having to travel 2 hours on a bus. This is a first step to help the neighborhoods - both by improving the area by having a good school and it helps property values and regeneration of an area.

Before farming this out of the City, it should be located exactly where it's needed - in the City neighborhoods.