A new, public charter school option will open in Elkhart in the fall. More than 100 students have completed enrollment forms for the Premier Arts Academy.
The school will integrate the arts into the everyday academic learning.
You can read more about the tuition-free school here.
It will be located inside the Lifeline Youth Ministries building which is under construction near Prairie Street and Hively Avenue in Elkhart.
Ball State University will be the school’s authorizer.
600 to 800 Page Application
“They don’t let just anyone start a school. It is a 600-page proposal and multiple hearings and interviews to make it all happen,” says Ashley Molyneaux, the head of school for Premier Arts Academy.
Molyneaux and others with the non-profit organization Premier Arts submitted a more than 800-page application to Ball State University Office of Charter Schools.
The “Request for Proposal” lays out the background and history of the school, how the curriculum and instructional methods will work, the school’s operation and governance plan, and a budget and financial plan.
Jamie Garwood, the Ball State University Director of the Office of Charter Schools says, state law dictates what needs to be in a charter school application.
Next, says Garwood, comes an evaluation by an external committee, an interview with the applicants, a public hearing, and finally, an evaluation by an internal review committee.
Ultimately, when it opens in August, the Premier Arts Academy will be one of more than 25 charter schools authorized by Ball State University.
“One of the things that is interesting about the Ball State portfolio of schools is we actually have a larger number of homegrown schools,” says Jamie Garwood.
In Indiana, a charter school like Premier Arts Academy can operate under a charter or contract between the school’s organizer and a charter school authorizer.
Premier Arts Academy will be organized by Premier Arts and authorized by Ball State University.
“The charter is really a contract. It is contract between the nonprofit board and Ball State saying this is what we agree upon, and this is the kind of school we are going to run and this is how we are going to do things,” says Garwood.
Throughout the past several months, Ball State University’s Office of Charter Schools has been working with Premier Arts Academy on its “startup protocol.”
Garwood says all of those pieces need to be in place before the first day of school.
“If for some reason we did not feel that a school was ready, we could say that a school could not open,” says Garwood.
Accountability
“First of all, it is going to be a gamechanger for Elkhart County and the surrounding region,” says Molyneaux.
Molyneaux says, what makes Premier Arts Academy different than most other schools in the state, is its plan for an arts integrated curriculum.
“Basically we are teaching the content areas through the lens of something kids love, the arts,” says Molyneaux, “people think of it as kind of fluffy, like they will be singing and dancing all day, but in actuality, arts integration is just taking an art form -- maybe it is visual arts -- and pairing it with something like the physics of flight and putting it together and having kids find a more concrete way to understand what thrust and drag and gravity look like.”
The Premier Arts Academy will be an independent public school that operates as a school of choice.
It will be funded using a per-pupil formula of state and federal dollars.
Unlike traditional public-school corporations, charter schools don't receive local property tax dollars and their school boards aren't elected by voters.
Still, there are ways for families and state leaders to make sure the school is working in the best interest of children.
According to its website, Premier Arts Academy will have a board that meets regularly to “drive the mission and oversee the finances and policies of the school.”
Premier Arts Academy will report to Ball State University.
This means Ball State will track the school's financial and academic progress and it has the ability to revoke the school's charter at any time.
“We really are the public accountability arm for charter schools,” says Garwood, “so we really are acting on the public’s interest in ensuring that a school is doing the things they said they are going to do, that they are responsibly using public funds, that they are legally compliant with federal and state law.”
While Charter schools are independent of the public school system, in Indiana, they still have to meet academic and financial benchmarks.
Operation Education looked into charter school oversight throughout the state.
“Really, chartered schools are held accountable by two organizations. Not only the Indiana Department of Education but also their authorizer and in our case, that is Ball state,” says Molyneaux.
Premier Arts Academy students will still be required to take state tests.
Like all public schools in the state, Premier Arts Academy will have to report important metrics to the Indiana State Board of Education, like its calendar, enrollment information, graduation data, curriculum, and academic achievement data.
Plus, Charter schools in Indiana are required to undergo financial audits every year which is more frequent than traditional public-school corporations.
“In Indiana, all charters schools are required by law to have an annual audit but in our case we actually pay for the auditor and have the same auditor for all of our schools,” says Garwood, “that way we really are ensuring all our schools are held to the same standard.”
Addressing concerns
Nationally, there are concerns about how charter schools are impacting traditional public school systems.
In 2021, the National Education Association said “the growth of charters has undermined local public schools and communities without producing any overall increase in student learning and growth.”
In Elkhart, the city’s mayor says he doesn’t see it that way.
“It is important that we give kids opportunities,” says Mayor Rod Roberson.
Roberson, a democrat, grew up in Elkhart and attended Elkhart Community Schools.
“As did all of my family. My wife, my four kids, all of them went through Elkhart Community Schools,” says Roberson.
Roberson says the city of Elkhart has a diverse population and a school system that is “majority minority.”
He wants to make sure that the children living in the area have a wide range of schooling options and that each school is held to the same standards.
“I don’t believe there is competition. When we know that opportunities abound for kids, I believe anyone in that space will need to pull their own as it relates to quality. So the quality of education is what is important to me,” says Roberson, “we realize that any educational opportunity connected to Ball State is one of those that will be held at the highest standard.”
Premier Arts is a public school and must serve all kids regardless of demographics, tests scores of socio-economic status.
Because it is a small school, school leaders say special needs and high ability students will not only receive the specialized teaching required by federal and state law, but they also tend to do better in these specialized settings.
Roberson believes more high-quality school options for students of different abilities and needs will ultimately make the Elkhart community more attractive.
“What I am concerned with is enlarging and creating more opportunity for more kids, thereby raising the quality of education, which will encourage more people to come and live in Elkhart, which will benefit not just this charter environment, but it will benefit our public schools as well,” says Roberson.
The final school preview event for families to learn more about Premier Arts Academy is Thursday, February 9th, 2023 at Pierre Moran Pavilion on Wolf Street in Elkhart.
Intent to enroll forms will be accepted before February 14th. After that, children will be placed on a waiting list.