About 30 curious community members attended an informational
session about a fledgling charter school Gilroy educators hope to
launch in August 2011.
About 30 curious community members attended an informational session about a fledgling charter school Gilroy educators hope to launch in August 2011.
“We’re sold on it,” said Eric von Forstmeyer, a Gilroy resident who attended the meeting with his wife Rosalie, after the presentation. Between the two of them, the couple has 60 years of combined experience as support staff at public schools. Their grandchildren also attended Gilroy schools.
Pending approval of the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education, Gilroy Prep School is slated to open its doors to about 200 kindergarten through second grade students in August 2011. With the help of Eliot Elementary School Principal James Dent, three teachers at Luigi Aprea Elementary School – Sharon Waller, Karen Humber and Kristyn Corley – are writing the charter this summer and hope to bring it before the board for approval in August.
Unlike traditional public schools, the charter school will set itself apart in several key areas with a longer school day, cutting-edge technology and a staff that’s afforded more flexibility to use programs that work and scrap ones that don’t, Dent said.
“What ticks me off is that this is so obvious,” von Forstmeyer commented during the presentation about some of the strategies the charter school organizers hope to employ. With so many years of experience at public schools, he wondered out loud, “Why aren’t they doing this already?”
After the presentation, the organizers led a spirited question-and-answer session and circulated sign-up sheets for various duties. They are hoping to recruit community members who can lend a helping hand in the areas of finances and fundraising, facilities, community outreach, website development, program development, and technology. Many attendees left voicing words of support and encouragement.
“This is going to be huge,” said Laura Case, the library clerk at Luigi Aprea Elementary School and the mother of a Gilroy High School senior who attended a charter school in Morgan Hill for junior high. “I’m hoping the district sees the value in it and gives them the support they deserve.”
