In its first year of operation, exhibits remarkable results in the 2012 Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). Highlights of this year’s CRCT results:
- 100 percent of students met and exceeded standards in seventh grade language arts
- 99 percent met and exceeded standards in third grade reading.
“We are very proud,” principal Vanessa Suarez said. “The faculty and students worked very hard this year.”
The school, which was , outperformed the state in all areas but one. When comparing the scores to the local , Cherokee Charter Academy outperformed or tied its district counterparts nearly 80 percent of the time while remaining within 3 percentage points of the district in four of the five remaining areas. In fifth grade, Cherokee Charter Academy students achieved higher results 100 percent of the time.
“We set the bar high for our students, they grabbed it and ran with it,” Suarez said.
When asked about the obstacles the school had to overcome last year, Local Governing Council Chair Heather Blevins said, “I don’t think any of us could have predicted we would come this far when we remember where we were this time last year.”
SACS Accredited Cherokee Charter Academy is part of the Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) family of schools. CSUSA educational advantages include integrated technology, parental involvement expectations, student uniforms, enforced discipline policies, highly qualified and motivated staff, community focus and high academic performance. Cherokee Charter Academy will add eighth grade and plans to serve 995 students when it opens for the 2012-13 academic year on July 30.
Lyn Michaels-Carden is a member of the Georgia Charter Educational Foundation board and the mother of a Cherokee Charter Academy student.
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That said, I believe it to be reasonable to assume that there aren't too many parents/children from Free Home, Waleska, Ball Ground, Acworth area, hispanics from downtown Canton, areas out 92 East, and other distant Cherokee areas that attend CCA. If that is in fact true and that most of the children are from a more local area, then comparing CCA to the entire county would be flawed.
http://www.academicjournals.org/err/pdf/pdf%202011/july/lacour%20and%20tissington.pdf "Poverty, which forms a specific culture and way of life, is a growing issue in the United States. The number of Americans living in poverty is continually increasing. Poverty indicates the extent to which an individual does without resources. Resources can include financial, emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical resources as well as support systems, relationships, role models, and knowledge of hidden rules. Poverty directly affects academic achievement due to the lack of resources available for student success. Low achievement is closely correlated with lack of resources, and numerous studies have documented the correlation between low socioeconomic status and low achievement. Several strategies exist to assist teachers in closing the poverty achievement gap for students." Please provide your study on family structure and we should easily be able to compare correlation coefficients to determine if your beliefs are indeed correct. Until then, the most direct correlation between educational achievement IS income level and because we don't have other statistics NMBs recommendation of free / reduced lunches is the best surrogate. Happy reading!
Based upon the site, CCA had 813 students of which 134 qualified for free or reduced meals (16.48%). Cherokee County on the other hand had 38,774 students of which 12,032 qualified for free or reduced meals (31.03%). Based upon this one statistic, it is safe to state that the demographics of students at CCA are not representative of CCSD as a whole. It is also safe to say the the students of CCA were more affluent while CCSD students as a whole were less affluent. In addition, affluent families are typically more highly educated (but not always) and children in a home with highly educated parents are more likely to perform better academically.
Regardless of that issue, I do want to offer up something for consideration. "If" the students that attend Cherokee Charter Academy truly come from a higher economic status, then wouldn't it benefit the Cherokee County School district? Here's why. If they are from higher income level families, then those families are more likely to own property, live in more expensive homes, and possibly own commercial property. Correct? And if they own property, then they're required to pay property taxes based on it's value. Correct? Isn't it true that if their child attends the public Charter school that their local tax dollars for education still goes towards the Cherokee School district? Wouldn't you want higher income level students attending the charter school and not using up resources for their child? It means more local funds for the district. It's just a thought.
See the full results here: http://www.ajc.com/news/2012-georgia-crct-results-1476281.html?cxntlid=brkng_nws_bnr
Imagine how they'd do with the $9000/per-child spending that the CCSD schools have. CCA doesn't even have busing and yet exceeded the scores of many established, well-funded CCSD schools in its initial year of existence. And CCA didn't get a single dime of CCSD money. No wonder the anti-choice, pro-union teacher-type advocates are scared - this sort of competition will make them have to work harder!
Poor kids were probably being ignored in their old schools. Glad their active parents had the choice to better their education.
The charter school will continue to spend much, much less per child than the bloated, half-billion CCSD will per child this year. I've compared both budgets and it's not close. Additionally, if they fail, they'll be fired, like the rest of us un-entitled workers in the private sector. But again, when it comes to the CCSD budget, the charter school is completely irrelevant. No CCSD money is being spent on charters. I don't understand the hatred. CCSD parents should love Charter parents - CCSD parents get to spend the property taxes of charter parents without needing to educate their kids. The money isn't following the student but instead staying in the county. I guess some folks just don't like competition or are just scared of change.
In reality, CCA had 8 months to educate the children, had on average higher income families, less diversity in special needs, and still failed to perform better than CCSD. Wow! You can't blame CCSD for all of CCA's failures. You can't blame CCSD for CCA's rush to open. Basically, CCA failed to deliver, failed to be CCSD, and is now going to pay "professional fees" (as reported in the Cherokee Ledger) of $1 million or 13%. Wow!