The Acorns. The Bulldogs. And the Innovators?
Morgan Hill’s traditional high schools Live Oak and Ann Sobrato
could get a new dose of competition – academically – as early as
next fall; the Santa Clara County Board of Education approved the
charter for a Silicon Valley Flex Academy and its executive
director is interested in opening it in Morgan Hill.
Morgan Hill – The Acorns. The Bulldogs. And the Innovators?
Morgan Hill’s traditional high schools Live Oak and Ann Sobrato could get a new dose of competition – academically – as early as next fall; the Santa Clara County Board of Education approved the charter for a Silicon Valley Flex Academy and its executive director is interested in opening it in Morgan Hill.
The nonprofit organization is headed by Mark Kushner, a Stanford professor, chair on the California Advisory Commission on Charter Schools and father in the Bay Area. He opened the first ninth- through 12th-grade Flex Academy near Union Square in San Francisco this fall with about 100 students attending. A third Flex Academy is being planned for Walnut Creek to serve students in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District.
Kushner will answer questions of parents at a community meeting from 7 to 8:30 p.m. tonight at the Community and Cultural Center at 17000 Monterey Road. He said he has three locations in Morgan Hill in mind for the Silicon Valley Academy, though declined to name them.
“Our school combines the best of traditional schools with the best online schools. Including a small, personalized community of no more than 500 with small classes,” Kushner said.
The classes are in a library-type setting as students pace themselves through well-used and internationally recognized online coursework, K12 curriculum, with teachers and tutors available for help.
The students do engage in some of the more traditional elements of a high school class: reading novels, studying from textbooks, exploring in science labs, debating and discussing.
The charter high school could be the answer to the decreasing budgets at state-funded public schools; it offers more advanced classes and unique electives, such as Latin, video-game design, green technology and marketing.
The high school would start with about 200 students and would be open to any high school student living in Santa Clara County. If too many students were interested than the number of available spots, it would go to a lottery.
“Every student is given a laptop to bring home, but this is an on-site school. Students must be on campus from about 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s not independent study, not a virtual school,” Kushner said.
Parent and Morgan Hill resident Ian Adam’s older children went through MHUSD schools, yet he wasn’t satisfied with how well the public school system prepared them. Flex Academy gleaned high demand by parents at Charter School of Morgan Hill, a kindergarten through eighth-grade school whose charter must be approved by MHUSD, to consider Morgan Hill as its home.
Adam’s youngest child attends Charter.
“The school fits the 21st century-student. Right now, the new generation needs something else in the school system. (It’s) clearly struggling and these are good people trying very hard. But the traditional model is inflexible. The new charter idea has the opportunity to change education,” Adam said.
Kushner said he is planning to sit down and meet with MHUSD Superintendent Wes Smith soon to see how the charter high school and district can work in harmony.
