Charter Schools

Ambition Preparatory Charter School received approval by the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board on September 10, 2018, to open as a K-8 school in the fall of 2019. The school will serve students who reside within the Jackson Public School District. Ambition Prep will become the fifth charter school to locate in Jackson. The board delayed […]

Letters of intent to apply in the 2018 application cycle were submitted to the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board for 17 new charter schools. The proposed charter schools would be located in the following school districts: Amite County (2), Canton, Cleveland, Holmes County, Jackson (5), Leflore County (3), Moss Point, North Bolivar, Rankin County, and Vicksburg-Warren.

Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School was approved yesterday by the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board as the first charter school in the state to be located outside of Jackson. Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, the school will serve 150 students in kindergarten through second grade. Thereafter, Clarksdale Collegiate plans to add a grade each year and

Three charter school applicants have moved to the final stage of consideration in the 2017 application cycle. A team of evaluators will assess detailed  school plans and hold in-person interviews with applicants seeking to open charter schools in the Canton, Clarksdale, and Sunflower County school districts. Approvals/denials will be announced at the board’s September 11 meeting. •

Nine charter school applicants submitted letters of intent to the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board indicating they plan to participate in Mississippi’s 2017 charter school application process. The proposed charter schools would be located in the following school districts: Canton, Clarksdale, Columbus, Greenwood, Holmes County (2), Jackson (2), South Pike, and Sunflower County.

An annual report on the 2015-2016 performance of Mississippi charter schools was approved by the authorizer board at its December 5 meeting. This report includes assessment results, comparative data on proficiency and academic growth for charter schools and Jackson Public Schools, financial and organizational performance data, and charter school accountability ratings. Midtown Public Charter School earned a state rating of

The 2016 application cycle has closed with no new authorizations for charter schools in Mississippi. The next application period should begin in January of 2017. Today’s board action, on a vote of 4-2, denied the application of Ohio-based I Can Schools, which had sought to open three K-8 charter schools in Jackson. Other 2016 applicants were eliminated in earlier

Preliminary data on the 2015-2016 proficiency rates of ReImagine Prep and Midtown Public students has been released by the Mississippi Department of Education. A statement from the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board says that the schools are not currently meeting the board’s expectations for performance. A comprehensive evaluation of the two charter schools will be released later in the fall.

Advancing to the second stage of the 2016 application cycle are three operators seeking to open five charter schools: • Shades of Elegance, based in Clarksdale, has applied to open a K-8 school in Sunflower County. Truth Academy STEAM Charter School aims to serve up to 120 students in grades K-6 beginning in the fall of

Nine charter school operators, five of which are headquartered out-of-state, submitted letters of intent to the Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board for 14 new charter schools to open in the fall of 2017 or thereafter (11 in the Jackson Public School District, 1 in Newton Municipal School District, 1 in Sunflower County School District, and 1 in