Charter school in works

A group of preschool children's parents hopes to open a new language-immersion and technology-focused charter school in Charleston for the 2011-12 school year.

The proposed Southeastern Elementary Institute of Global Studies is one of 13 schools statewide vying for approval, and it's the only Lowcountry group to submit a charter application this year.

The state Charter School Advisory Committee will review the group's proposal this summer and determine whether it meets state law. If the committee signs off on the application, the Charleston County School Board would have the final say on whether the school can open.

Although the board has a moratorium on approving new charter schools, it gave its OK last year for the Apple Charter School and Pattison's Academy to open this fall and denied the request of Drayton Hall Elementary to convert to a charter.

Many of those who support the Southeastern Elementary Institute of Global Studies are connected through the West Ashley Learning Hub, a private preschool. Parents such as Tamara Heck say they are pleased with the education their children have received and want that to continue. Heck is a member of the charter school's organizing effort, she said her 5-year-old son is reading on a first-grade level, adding and subtracting, using computers daily, and speaking in Spanish.

"The amount of academic rigor ... is outstanding," she said. "We would like that to continue through their elementary years."

The charter school would be open to 94 Charleston County pre-kindergarten through fourth-grade students in its first year, and it would add a fifth grade and phase out its pre-kindergarten the following year. Students in kindergarten through second grade would learn 90 percent of their lessons in Spanish, and that percentage would drop to about 50 percent in third through fifth grades as they begin to study Chinese.

In its application, the school's organizers said they chose Spanish and Chinese because of the country's growing Hispanic population and because of the increasing importance of China to the global economy. It's easier for students to learn foreign languages when they're immersed at a young age, Heck said.

The school also will focus on technology, and students will use the internet and computer programs to acquire a broader understanding of the world, she said. The charter school tentatively plans to use the building housing the West Ashley Learning Hub. The pre-school would dissolve as the charter school expands, Heck said.

Class sizes will be kept to 15 or 16 so students can have individual attention, said Alicia Brown, a member of the group's organizing committee. The school will produce students who are fluent in a foreign language, proficient at using technology, and well-prepared for a competitive job market, she said.

"We just want our kids to be more equipped to be able to go out in the world and to be equipped to apply for jobs locally and internationally," she said. "It's a unique school because of what we have to offer and what the children will walk away with."