Industrious, motivated students in Salida public schools may have the opportunity to participate in the innovative, community-based curriculum offered by The Crest Academy this coming fall. In what amounted to a vote of confidence for continuing conversations between the school district and The Crest Academy, the school board unanimously agreed to pursue negotiations for a merger between the two entities at its regular board meeting Tuesday.
For the school district, the proposed merger would offer another choice for students and parents, which “will only be of benefit to the community,” said board member Robin NeJame. The community has encouraged the district to “look towards innovation,” she said, which The Crest Academy embodies.
Terms of the proposed agreement between the school district and the nonprofit Crest have only been discussed informally, but they are likely to include:
- the school district would lease the space currently occupied by The Crest Academy;
- the school district would establish criteria for program admission;
- Crest staff would become employees of the district;
- The Crest Academy curriculum and class sizes would remain largely the same; and
- existing Crest students would be grandfathered into the new program.
Crest Academy director Karen Lundberg explained that the school’s model of “place-based” and “project-based” learning puts a strong emphasis on both academic instruction and experiential education through community involvement. According to Lundberg, in a typical project a student exercises traditional reading, writing, and research skills but may also partner with a mentor from the community who has practical or academic knowledge. Students negotiate these partnerships and through them learn practical skills for everyday living. Ultimately, Lundberg said, the program instills in students a sense of pride and ownership in their community.
The merger would also be advantageous for The Crest Academy. Under the school district, the program could be open to all qualified students, Lundberg said, not just those who can afford tuition. The program might also be able to expand to include high school students, whereas currently The Crest Academy is only available to grades four through eight.
According to Superintendent John Rouse, if the merger goes through, The Crest Academy would be operated as part of the Salida school district but no additional costs would be incurred by the district because the Crest program would pay for itself by bringing more students into the district. “I am excited that the board is interested in the discussion,” Rouse noted. He added that a similar conversation is beginning with Strawberry Door.
Hayden Mellsop has written more about Salida’s Crest Academy and the proposed merger with the district, although the board was clear on Tuesday that The Crest Academy would not become an Innovation School under the current proposal.
This will be an interesting story to follow. I’m really pleased the school board and Mrs. Lundberg are opening dialogue to discuss new educational options for the district. The same could be said for the Waldorf study as well. Thank you school board.
I’m fairly new to town and this is the first I’ve heard of this proposal. I’m not sure it’s a win-win situation, but maybe I’m missing some details that aren’t evident here. What constitutes a “qualified student” ? Will Crest essentially be the school district’s gifted program? Will bringing Crest into the fold of the public school system in effect strip it of its unique characteristics? Presumably the absence of tuition will result in a higher interest level; what then?
As for the assertion that no additional costs are incurred, that is simply not true. Tax dollars don’t appear out of thin air; “free tuition” is not really free. More tax dollars will be needed to pay for the facility, teacher salaries, supplies, etc. To place an “alternative” program under the umbrella of the public school system seems inefficient and counterintuitive.
The thought of the public (government) school system swallowing up their private competitors is more than a little unsettling. It seems like this will eliminate any options for parents.
@Jill – I took Mr. Rouse’s comments to mean that there would be no net cost to the district to merge with The Crest Academy because the cost of the program would be offset by the additional per pupil revenue the district would receive from the state, not that there would be no cost whatsoever.
I’m on the Board of the Crest Academy (and not a parent of a Crest student).
To answer Jill’s questions, The Crest Academy and the School Board do not wish to make the Crest Academy into the Gifted Program. It is a program that is not right for every kid (just like traditional public school is not the best fit for every kid). The main criteria for admission are: An ability for the child to work independently, be self-motivated and self-directed. That does not mean they have to be straight-A students. There are several other criterion but these are the main ones.
I would also like to point out that this morning’s piece about the School Board meeting in the Mountain Mail got one big fact wrong (surprise, surprise). John Rouse has been courting the Crest Academy for nearly a year. (rather than the Crest Academy pursuing the merger with the district, as the Mail states).Because the Crest Academy was new last year, we weren’t really interested in listening to his proposal. In the last several months he approached us again and we have agreed to numerous discussions with him. We thought he was just after the money the district would get from the state for each student but we have learned that this is not the case. The school district will break even. He and the Board I think sincerely care about the District and what’s best for the kids.
We are still a long way from making this merger a reality as there are many items that need to be negotiated and ironed out but ultimately I see it happening and that it will really be a good thing for the community.
Please note that the link by Hayden Mellsop at the bottom of the article is no longer relevant. That article was written a while ago when the district (Rouse) was pursuing the Innovation School idea. After visiting with the Colorado Dept of Ed it became evident that the Innovation Schools program was not created for relatively healthy school districts such as ours.
This is an interesting discussion. Basically Trey and Kym were both accurate in their comments. Part of the mission of R-32-J as a public school system is to provide learning opportunities to all of the students who live in our community. Because students learn in a variety of ways, it is incumbent upon the school district to provide as many avenues for learning as is feasible within the resources available.
The Board directed me to consider alternative pathways of learning as one of the priority areas that we identified when I became superintendent. To that end, I have opened dialogs with most of the other schools in our community. The director of Crest Academy and the Crest Board have shown an interest in working to potentially become part of the public school system. Recently members of a local Waldrof-inspired school as well as a representative from Strawberry Door have expressed similar interests.
We are willing to discuss the possibilities with these or any of interested parties; however, it remains that for us to proceed that the proposed potential for mergers, if you will, must result in no additional net costs to the school district. The district has no plans to financially subsidize any programs. To the contrary, all of our discussions up to this point would result in an increase in enrollment numbers for the school district and thereby increase the level of our state funding. This is similar to what Trey said in his comments.
Kym was also correct in stating that it is not the intention for the Crest program to be a “gifted” student program. The type of student who would flourish in the type of program being offered by Crest would not necessarily need to be of high ability. The key would be that the student works well both independently and in groups with little direction and intervention from the teacher.
This is what I believe was meant by the term “qualified” student.
We will continue our dialog with Crest and others to provide as many alternatives to learning as feasible.
Thanks for the chance to dialog.