It took a direct appeal to the state Board of Education, but classes at Inglewood's first charter high school will soon be in session.
Steve Barr, who founded the successful Animo Leadership Charter High School in neighboring Lennox, is working hard to re-create that success in Inglewood.
In the next month, his staff will draft a curriculum and finish interviewing prospective teachers. Last, but not least, a construction crew will revamp the fifth floor of an old hospital on Manchester Boulevard which, beginning Aug. 26, will house 143 members of the Animo Inglewood class of 2006.
It's a frenzy of preparation for a school that the Inglewood School District would prefer did not exist.
Last year, the district rejected Barr's proposal for the school, saying it wanted time to implement its own reforms. Some school board members voiced concern that Animo would skim off the best students from the district's two under-performing high schools and that it would not reflect the city's racial demographics.
The proposal for Animo essentially said that a private group could do a better job than public school officials and "that's something they don't want to hear," Barr said. "It's like me knocking on Staples' door and saying 'Hi, I'm from Office Smart. I want to put my store next to yours, and I need your permission.' "
But last December, the state board overruled the district and, on the basis of the Lennox school's high test scores, granted Barr the charter. Animo students scored about 35% higher on language arts and math portions of the state's high school exit exam than their counterparts in the Centinela Valley Union High School District, where most of the Animo students would have been assigned.
Of the approximately 432 charter schools that operate in California, only Inglewood Animo and four others were granted charters by the state. State officials, rather than the school district, assume some oversight responsibilities, such as inspecting facilities.
Charter schools are public institutions funded with tax dollars but freed from most state regulations and allowed to remain independent of a school district. That autonomy, supporters say, allows them to tailor programs to students' needs and to reduce bureaucracy.
The Animo, Spanish for "spirit" or "vigor," curriculum is designed so that every student can fulfill the requirements for entrance to the University of California. The students wear uniforms and are assigned individual laptop computers to use in class and at home. Parents must commit a certain number of service hours to the school.
