Parents can now enroll their children in a new public-school option in Elkhart County.
The Premier Arts Academy will open in the fall and will be the first kindergarten through 6th grade charter school in Elkhart.
The school will be tuition free for students.
It will be located at The Hub inside the new Lifeline Youth Ministries building which is currently under construction near Hively Avenue and Prairie Street.
The new school will be offering integrated arts into the core academic learning.
What this means for families
"First of all, it is going to be a gamechanger for Elkhart County and the surrounding region," says Ashley Molyneaux.
Molyneaux is the Head of School for the Premier Arts Academy.
She has an extensive education background in Elkhart County including as executive director for the Elkhart Education Foundation.
As a public charter school, the Premier Arts Academy will be free for families.
That is because it will receive state and federal dollars based on a complex per-pupil funding formula.
Molyneaux estimates there will be around 175 students enrolled in the school's first year.
When it opens in the fall, it will be for kindergarten through 6th grade. The school will add 7th and 8th grades in the subsequent years.
Charter schools in Indiana do not receive local property tax dollars which is why Premier Arts Academy will not provide bussing transportation.
The school will run from 8:30 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. with low cost before school care options and free after school care.
Open Enrollment is happening now, and leaders say the school has already enrolled more than 100 students.
After February 14th, the school will enroll students in a lottery format.
Once enrollment numbers become clear, Molyneaux will begin hiring teachers.
"What an incredible opportunity we have to hire teachers who want to teach in this way, who are excited to do something new and out of the box," says Molyneaux.
Premier Arts Academy leaders say they will be integrating arts into all the academic content areas.
The school's website says it will be providing "rigorous project-based curriculum blending academics and artistic excellence..."
Molyneaux says students will be challenged to solve real world problems.
"Then they take those solutions and present to the world at community expos. This is something where they are really having to collaborate and read for authentic reasons and write to explain what their solutions are and they really have buy in," says Molyneaux.
Because the school is smaller than a traditional public school, Molyneaux says there will be a lot of opportunities and dedicated small group instruction.
"So, those are the things that we are doing to make sure every kid not only gets what they want in these arts and in these fun activities, but also exactly what they need and that is leveled small group every single day," says Molyneaux.
What parents are saying
Yessica Garcia likes the idea of small group instruction with hands on learning.
"Some kids can read a book and then they can execute the math problems," says Garcia, "my child, he needs to be fully engaged. He needs hands on learning."
Garcia’s oldest son, Aiden, flourished in EdCamp in 2020.
She says he was excited to go every day.
"I do think the activities they were partaking in, whether it was the dancing or martial arts or beating to the drums, it was fun, and they were doing fun things. They loved every moment of it. They were present. They were truly present," says Garcia.
"I love meeting new people and making new friends," says Aiden, who is in 5th grade now.
Yessica and Aiden have been attending the parent informational meetings that Premier Arts Academy has been holding and Aiden is excited to start at the school in the fall.
"I feel like I am going to be able to learn more," says Aiden.
"Honestly, I am so excited. I am so excited for my kids to just be excited," says Garcia.
Where it came from
In the fall of 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, schools across the country were closed to in-person learning.
That meant children were doing e-learning from home as working parents struggled to find ways to work and help their kids.
In Elkhart, the Elkhart Education Foundation opened EdCamp.
"So, EdCamp was a wonderful program," says Molyneaux.
Molyneaux was the executive director of the Elkhart Education Foundation at that time.
The Foundation teamed up with the ETHOS Innovated Center and Lifeline Youth Ministries.
During the days when students weren't able to go to school for in-person lessons, they were able to attend EdCamp for childcare and e-learning. The students received tutoring and participated in fun activities like martial arts, music, and art.
Molyneaux says the children who attended EdCamp looked forward to attending, remained active and engaged and did well when they returned to school full time.
"And we saw the excitement and the drive that kids needed, they also needed connection for sure at that time and we saw that," says Molyneaux, "it was honestly during one of those walkabouts, that I was like, we could do this all the time."
Now, she will be.
The Premier Arts Academy is formed
"We are the first public chartered school in the area," says Molyneaux.
The Premier Arts Academy is a non-profit, independent school which will be governed by the local board of directors.
If Premier Arts sounds familiar, that is because the organization is already well established in Elkhart for community theatre and art and music education.
Ball State University will be authorizing the school in accordance with the regulations by the Indiana Department of Education. Ball State University Teacher School Office of Charter Schools will monitor the school's academic and financial performance.
In Indiana, charter schools must be organized by a non-profit and authorized by a governing body.
"Premier Arts has been around for 15 years in the community, producing amazing, high-quality, arts education, community theatre, and field trips. Youth programming has been a huge focus for Premier Arts, this is just the natural next step," says Molyneaux, "my expertise in education comes from years in the education space and we have partnered together to create something really special that we have been hearing from our community that they want an option like this. So, that is how this all came to be."
Learn more
Premier Arts Academy is holdings its final School Preview Event on Thursday, February 9th, 2023.
Families must submit their intent to enroll forms by February 14th. After that, the school will enroll students based on a lottery and then will be placed on a waitlist.
You can find information on enrollment here.