City Council approves new College Park charter school

The College Park City Council voted unanimously last night to support a proposal for the "College Park Academy" — a college preparatory charter school that would allow students to earn up to 60 college credits.

This collaboration between the university and the city has been in the works for at least five years, and College of Education Dean Donna Wiseman said the council's support is a step in the right direction to seeing the school's doors open by 2013. The proposal, sponsored by the city-university partnership, will be submitted by the end of February and must be approved by the Prince George's County School Board before plans can be finalized.

Students would be able to matriculate in the school starting in 7th grade and attend through their senior of high school. The grades would be relatively small, consisting of 100 students, and about 600 total in the school. Students would have the opportunity to earn up to 60 college credits — including those from Advanced Placement tests. Of those credits, up to 25 will be from University of Maryland courses.

"By supporting this application, the city council is showing our commitment to the children and the families of this community," District 4 Councilwoman Denise Mitchell said during her public remarks. "We applaud the efforts of the city-university partnership."

Wiseman, who played an integral part of the charter school planning team, said students in Prince George's County would have the opportunity to attend the school through an application process.

If enrollment reaches capacity, Wiseman said, applicants will be admitted through a lottery system to ensure every student has a fair chance of admittance.

"Our goal is to create a school with high expectations where everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve," Wiseman said. "Students need to be rather self-motivated, self-directed and accept the need to achieve at a high level."

Three locations — the former Calvert Road School; an empty office location at 4700 Berwyn House Road; and the old 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant — around College Park have been identified for the Academy, but no decisions have been finalized. There is no immediate plan to construct an original facility, Wiseman said.

College Park Mayor Andy Fellows said the school gives the city a chance to enhance its educational offerings and establish College Park as a top-tier county for education.

"Education should be a priority throughout Prince George's County," Fellows said. "I think that College Park should be a leader, and we should do everything we can to improve our opportunities."

Outside basic course offerings, Wiseman said extracurricular activities will be different and overall learning will be individualized to fit the needs of each student. Emphasis will be placed on blended learning, which Wiseman said includes learning through problem solving and collaborative group work.

This school is a part of President Wallace Loh's vision to make College Park a top-20 college town by 2020, and during the summer, he charged a task force to look into a school's creation. Mitchell said the community has been in strong support of the project since its inception years ago.

"Residents are looking for viable, good quality schools to keep them from moving out of the county and into Montgomery County," Mitchell said.

While opening a charter school in the city is not a guaranteed success, Wiseman said she believes the type of learning the school will ensure its sustainability.

"There is the potential for fast acceleration with this type of learning," Wiseman said. "The school will have to prove itself."

sinclair@umdbk.com