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Parents Make Plans to Open Charter School Campus Will Likely Be East of 9A, on Southside or Intracoastal Area.

Posted on: Thursday, 21 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

Thirty Jacksonville parents, whose ranks include a college professor, financial planner, golf pro and public health administrator, plan to open an arts-based charter school in 2007. And they're seeking others to get involved in its development.

The project was started by a San Pablo resident who put a similar school together while living in San Diego.

"When I moved here in September of 2004, I told some people about it, and they said let's get one started here," said Danielle Benedict, who home-schools her daughters, Mikaela, 8, and Katerina, 7.

Creative Minds Academy will be a kindergarten-through-sixth- grade school with the location yet to be decided but probably east of 9A in the Southside or Intracoastal areas. It will combine the creative arts with Montessori and Waldorf teaching methods, which emphasize hands-on activities, exploration and creativity.

"It will be a personalized education plan where each child is taught according to their learning style rather than having to adapt to one teaching style," Benedict said.

Charter schools were authorized by the Legislature in 1996 to provide competition for public schools. Since then, their numbers have grown from five in Florida to more than 300 in 2004-05.

They are funded with tax dollars but are run by non-profit groups that are able to try innovative strategies and are free from many of the rules imposed on traditional public schools.

Though the Duval County School Board closed three charter schools last year for earning two failing grades from the state over four years, Creative Minds organizers said they are not dissuaded. Parental involvement will be a key component, they said, with parents required to volunteer five hours a week.

"Studies from the Department of Education and from universities show that parent involvement makes a difference," Benedict said. "It becomes more like a private school than an alternative at risk-type school. A lot of home-school families are very interested in this."

Besides, J. Allen Axson, Duval's public Montessori school, has a waiting list, said Christina Jordan, who is spearheading the charter school. Jordan said she thinks Creative Minds has the ingredients for success and has assembled a core group that's versed in essential areas.

"We're looking for families interested in attending the school, teachers and community leaders for our board of directors," said Jordan, a director in the capital division of a Canadian company that manufactures Lear jets.

The major challenge will be finding a site, said the Atlantic Beach resident, who has an MBA in finance and information technology.

"There's a lot of work involved," she said. "There's a business plan that we will have to present to Duval County public schools. Their role is to make sure we are a viable business and that we not only understand how to establish a curriculum but how to manage the school from a business standpoint and how to handle finances, payroll and forecasting."

Jordan, whose husband is an assistant pro at TPC at Sawgrass, has two children, ages 10 months and 2 1/2 years. Though they're still young, she wanted more control over where they go to school and how they're educated.

"We believe in the arts and its positive effects on learning and culture," Jordan said.

For information, visit www.creativemindsacademy.com or call Jordan at 710-8418.

sandy.strickland@jacksonville.com,(904) 359-4128

Source: Florida Times Union

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