Principal Joya Deutsch talks to a tutor in the Learning Lab at Rocketship Discovery Prep in San Jose, Calif., in 2012. Rocketship Education is a chain of charter schools that is hoping to spread across the nation.
Rocketship, a highly regarded California-based charter school operator, is encountering community opposition as it moves to open its first school in the District.
Opponents say that the school’s chosen location in Anacostia is unsafe — across the street from a halfway house for returning felons — and that the charter operator did not make sufficient efforts to reach out to its new neighbors. In letters to the D.C. Public Charter School Board, 11 people cited safety and other concerns.
The board on Tuesday night delayed a vote to give full authorization to Rocketship, providing the school time to address the concerns.
“As you may or may not know, the proposed location of Rocketship is uncomfortably close to Hope Village, one of the largest halfway houses on the east coast of the United States,” wrote Michael Bell, a senior pastor at Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. “We value our children and want them to know that when making decisions on their behalf we consider the environment and the community.”
Bell said in his letter that the school had not reached out to key people in the community, and he asked whether the charter operator’s proposed location, within walking distance of three D.C. public schools, would “force unnecessary competition between traditional public schools and charter schools.”
One of the traditional public schools, Stanton Elementary, is undergoing what is considered one of the most promising school-improvement efforts in the city. It is also seen as a model of collaboration. The traditional school partnered with a Philadelphia-based charter school operator, Scholar Academies.
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8B echoed these concerns in a resolution expressing its disapproval of the location. However, Commissioner Anthony Lorenzo Green did not sign on to the resolution. Green said that he initially had reservations about the location but that he now believes the school and halfway house can coexist.
Rocketship, which opened its first school in San Jose in 2007, quickly gained national attention with its low-cost, blended-learning approach and the strong test scores achieved by poor and minority students. Its model has inspired excitement among philanthropists, although its heavy reliance on technology is a matter of controversy.
The charter school board granted the operator conditional approval in 2013 through an expedited process. In July, after a lengthy search, Rocketship announced that it had found a location at 2335 Raynolds Pl. SE, a three-acre wooded parcel on an Anacostia hilltop facing a public housing development.
Katy Venskus, vice president for growth, development and policy at Rocketship, addressed the board Tuesday night. She said Rocketship was not initially made aware that the location was near a halfway house.
She said an outside developer, Turner Agassi, had done all the work scouting locations. As is the case for many charter operators seeking to open in the District, it was difficult to find property, and Rocketship was excited about the location in many ways.
“It’s sort of a unicorn,” she said, because of its size and natural features. “It’s going to allow us to construct a spectacular school facility.”
The vision is for a 54,000-square-foot, two-story building with a glass entrance, outdoor terrace, multiple play areas and nature trails. It is scheduled to open in time for the 2015-2016 school year.
That scheduled opening day could be in jeopardy if the charter’s final approval is delayed, Venskus said. She acknowledged that Rocketship’s due diligence regarding the property should have been better. The nonprofit had hired someone locally, who spent months reaching out to people in the community. But he left his job over the summer, and some time passed before a replacement was hired.
She said Rocketship is working out the details of a memorandum of understanding with Hope Village so that the two institutions, which share a mission of helping underserved communities, can find ways to work together.
She also said the school is developing a safety plan. “It will include fences and cameras and on-site security and all of those things,” she said.
The board asked to see that plan and letters of support before it votes on the charter at its next meeting, scheduled for Nov. 3.
“While we certainly retain our enthusiasm for the forthcoming school. . . . I want to underline how seriously we take the types of concerns we are hearing,” said board member Darren Woodruff.