ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orange County elementary school is set to be converted into a charter school as soon as next school year.
What You Need To Know
The school board voted unanimously to approve a pilot program in conjunction with the non-profit Lift Orlando
The vote took place at Tuesday’s board meeting
All board members voted to approve the plan
The school board voted unanimously to approve a pilot program in conjunction with the non-profit Lift Orlando during Tuesday’s school board meeting after parents voted in support of the change earlier this year.
Orange Center Elementary School will go from a STEM magnet school to a STEAM charter school. Now that the OCPS board gave the overwhelming okay, Lift Orlando says they’re ready to start.
“I believe that we are on the verge of seriously reimagining what it means for traditional public schools and charter schools to join together to make this work,” OCPS School Board District 5 member Vicki-Elaine Felder said.
Dana Wallace and her two sons Dallace and Dimitri were at the meeting Tuesday, sharing their excitement about this next chapter, which will keep them in the same neighborhood school they know.
“I just think that keeping Orange Center in our community and having the cradle to career facility in our neighborhood. And by keeping that, I believe in what they’re trying to bring to the table for us,” Wallace said.
But now that the vote is official, there is still a lot that needs to be done before August, work that Lift Orlando says has already begun.
“They’ve already had a myriad of meetings with parents and educators with experts around the country to really help design what’s going to be a phenomenal school built on best practice, on cutting-edge approaches to education but also for what works for our children here,” Lift Orlando President Eddy Moratin said.
The new neighborhood charter school is going to be operated by the neighborhood schools initiative, pushing forward those state-of-the-art approaches that parents and students alike are looking forward to, like project-based learning.
“Using my kids as an example, Dallace, if you talk to him or teach him something he retains it like that and Dimitri here likes to work with his hands more. And with project-based learning, a lot of kids will benefit from that,” Wallace said.
Dana Wallace and her sons Dallace and Dimitri are all smiles after Tuesday’s OCPS vote to convert Orange Center Elementary. (Spectrum News)
“They break it down for us and help us understand things a little bit more before we do it on our own. And then after we get to do it on our own, they check it and then help us with our mistakes if we made any,” Orange Center Elementary student Dallace Jones said.
Lift Orlando says it is currently in the process of onboarding teachers and expanding the school, but officials expect for the school to open as a charter school in August.
Lift Orlando has said that all teachers and staff will be prioritized for positions at the converted school if they choose to stay.
They would become employees of the neighborhood schools initiative instead of OCPS.