The first charter school application to be approved in Mississippi is for Reimagine Prep in Jackson. It plans to open in the fall of 2015 to serve 110 students in grade 5, gradually expanding to serve 440 students in grades 5-8 by 2018. The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board voted to approve the proposal from RePublic Charter Schools and now will negotiate with RePublic the contract under which Reimagine Prep will operate. The group also operates two charter schools in Nashville. RePublic is the lone successful applicant of the 12 that filed proposals earlier this year to open charter schools in Mississippi. The charter board denied the applications of the Columbus Coalition for Educational Options, which had proposed a charter school for Columbus, and the Phoenix Project Community Development Foundation, which had proposed a charter school for Natchez. Nine other proposals were either incomplete or were withdrawn from consideration earlier in the process.
