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Charter school in Midland a big attraction
Tuesday, June 27, 2000 By Eleanor Chute, Post-Gazette Education Writer
The Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, a spin-off of the Midland School District in Beaver County, is attracting so much interest that it could become as large as the school district itself.
Scheduled to open this fall, the charter school offers home-based instruction by computer, including providing a computer, printer, Internet access and individualized curriculum for each student.
Nick Trombetta, Midland superintendent and chief administrative officer of the charter school, said about 150 applicants have been interviewed and accepted, including six from Midland. The others come from 31 school districts in a seven-county area, including 50 from the city of Pittsburgh.
Trombetta estimated another 150 are awaiting interviews for the school, which will serve kindergarten through 12th grade.
The Midland School District itself has about 500 students, including its 100 high school students who attend school in East Liverpool, Ohio.
"This is going to be so big," said Trombetta. "We probably could grow to be larger than our own Midland district."
The charter school plans to conduct two informational sessions this week. One will be at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the Salvation Army Building in Monessen. The other will be at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow in the community room of Panera's Bread Company on the lower level of the Cranberry Mall, Butler County.
Trombetta said the charter school initially expected about 50 students but has found it difficult to turn anyone away, particularly because of Midland's history of having trouble finding a district to take its high school students.
"Here's a little school district who knows what it feels like to be rejected. Here it's kind of hard to turn a parent away who's asking for your help," Trombetta said.
Many of the students are homeschoolers looking for more structure, he said. Some of the others don't attend a public school because of illness, "social problems" or other issues, he added.
A charter school is a public school that is operated by a separate board. Under state law, the student's regular school district pays the charter school per student -- a fee that varies by district. Students do not pay tuition to charter schools.
"We look at this as another way of providing public education, a nontraditional way," Trombetta said.
In addition to receiving the necessary equipment for the student to work out of the home, each student will receive an "electronic education plan," drawn up to meet the student's needs from an array of resources, ranging from electronic courses designed by the district to college courses on the Internet.
Not all of the studies will be on the computer, said Trombetta; books are included in the curriculum. Nor is this a do-whatever-you-please curriculum, he noted. Students will have to pass tests and meet requirements.
Students will meet once a month in Midland for seminars, including speech classes.
The student's family is expected to provide daily supervision of the student.
The charter school will provide two certified teachers -- including one with a dual certification that includes administration or guidance counseling -- for every 50 students. The teachers will meet with a student or talk on the phone as needed.
"I think it's important we put a face to it," said Trombetta. "I don't want this to be an impersonal program."
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