St. Mary's Approves 1st Charter School

With Problems Solved, Organizers Get Green Light

Superintendent Michael J. Martirano makes a presentation on how the charter school, to open Aug. 16 in a Great Mills, completed the tasks he had set out. (Photos By Mark Gail -- The Washington Post)

One by one, the traffic lights on the overhead projector turned green. And one by one, organizers of Southern Maryland's first charter school breathed a sigh of relief.

St. Mary's County public schools Superintendent Michael J. Martirano made his announcement on the status of the Chesapeake Public Charter School in dramatic fashion Wednesday, using a computer slide presentation to reveal a series of seven stoplights representing seven items Martirano identified two weeks ago that the school's founders had to correct. Only after addressing the Board of Education and the assembly of nervous parents for 20 minutes did he issue his recommendation: The school should open as planned in August. For the first time he could remember at a school board meeting, Martirano was greeted with a standing ovation.

"I've said over and over that I want this school to be successful on Day One," Martirano said, explaining concerns that had led to a two-week delay in deciding whether to open the school this year. "And now I believe it can be."

After the board unanimously approved Martirano's recommendation, charter school supporters staged an impromptu celebration in the meeting room. Several parents hugged Martirano and board members, while at least one brushed away tears of joy.

"I'm so happy for my son and the other children who are going to have a school to go to," said Candy Cain of Hollywood, whose rising first-grader was selected in a lottery to attend the charter school. "I just know this is the right thing for my son."

The decision came after a whirlwind two weeks of meetings and other proceedings needed to complete the tasks on Martirano's "correction plan." An anonymous donor agreed to make up as much as necessary of an $85,000 fundraising shortfall, while the school system's human resources department identified multiple qualified candidates applying to be the school's education director, thus overcoming the two biggest obstacles on the list.

The Chesapeake Public Charter School will open Aug. 16 in a Great Mills building that once housed a racquet club. During the school's first year, 160 students will attend kindergarten through fifth grade. School organizers plan to gradually expand enrollment through eighth grade. Although the charter school will be publicly funded and accountable to Martirano and the Board of Education, its staff will have complete control over curriculum and the structure of school days.

Organizers have promoted the school as a way to offer parents a choice in the kind of education their children receive, even if they do not have the means to pay for private school. The Chesapeake school will feature small class sizes, multi-age classrooms and opportunities to study languages, organic gardening and environmental issues relating to the Chesapeake Bay. Students will attend school 11 months a year, with one- or two-week breaks between units. Teachers will emphasize experimentation and hands-on learning, organizers said.

"I think this type of instructional design works much better [than that offered by a traditional public school] for certain types of learners," said Kate Sullivan, president of the charter school's board of directors. "I've seen the benefits of this kind of instruction, and I believe it will meet the needs of children who are more kinesthetic."

Martirano told the 20 or so parents at Wednesday's meeting that they should celebrate their hard work but remain focused on the challenges ahead. He asked members of the alliance to provide monthly progress updates to the board until the first day of school and pledged to keep a close eye on developments during the first year.

"That's just good management," he said. "We won't treat you any differently than we do any other public school."