The Miami Shores/Barry University Charter

School was designed to provide a unique

opportunity for parents, students, a municipality,

and a university to join with the private sector to

create the first charter school of its kind in

Florida. The school opened its doors to welcome

sixty 6

grade students in late August 1997.

The contract for the MSBUCS “Connected

Learning Community” stipulates the creation of a

unique place for learning for 180 students in

grades 6, 7, and 8. Connections with the

interactive communities of the Village of Miami

Shores and Barry University compliment the

primary goal of the school of developing young

people who succeed. This educational

community is truly a “School without Walls,” in

which community residents, educational leaders,

and interested citizens collaborate.

The primary goal of the school is to create a

seamless educational community that will link

learners within the school and community in an

information-rich, collaborative learning

environment.

The school’s curriculum offers an interdisciplinary

approach, using thematic units. These themes

stress the interconnectedness of knowledge in

the humanities, mathematics, and the natural

sciences. Additionally, the innovative use of

technology plays an important role in achieving

this goal.

MSBUCS offers a 30:1 student/teacher ratio and

incorporates a teaching assistant in each

classroom. Individualized instruction is

augmented by the additional

placement of Barry

University teacher interns in the classrooms. The

school seeks to insure that the students learn at

optimal levels by using integrated portfolio-based

assessment tools and performance assessment

evaluations.

For the 2001-2002 school year, MSBUCS

received a school grade of ‘A.’ The Miami

Shores/Barry University Charter School is the first

school to receive the Gold Award from the Miami-

Dade County Public Schools in recognition of

their excellent school performance.

s of August 1, 2002, the Department of Education

began processing the first quarterly McKay payment

for the 2002-2003 school year. The Scholarship

Team,

Bob Metty, Bill Greiner, Juanita Hurst, Claire

Philippe, Monique Duncan, John Thompson, Lisa

Alvarez, Monica Settles & Scott Montgomery

have

worked many long hours over the past months to

ensure that the first quarterly payment is distributed on

time and that each parent who filed an intent on or

before July 1 receives a payment.

Due to the improved efficiency of the web-based

registration system, a full 95.4% of students registered

in participating private schools have filed the

necessary letter of intent and have received a matrix

number from their respective districts. Having a matrix

number for each student allows DOE to process the

first quarterly payments without delay. The web-

based system was developed between October, 2001

and March 2002.

A massive effort to contact participating private

schools who have not yet registered/enrolled students

for the 2002-2003 school year was underway during

the past week.

McKay Statistics

Parental intents for the McKay Program

10,635

New McKay registrations

3,976

Re-enrolled students

3,796

Total students currently participating in the McKay

Program

7,772

Early summer proved to be a busy and pivotal

month for the FSU Accountability Center. The

Center remained busy clarifying its goals and

objectives, networking with other groups, and

providing direct support to charter schools.

The Center drafted and submitted a revised grant

proposal, adding technical assistance duties to

start-ups and other various projects. These

proposed projects include collection and

dissemination of charter school facility

information, co-sponsorship with the Florida

Charter School Resource Center at USF of a

parental involvement speaker, and press

releases to the public concerning charter schools.

The Center has also been hard at work meeting

the original goals and objectives of its funding

grant. The first regional accountability drive-in

workshop was held on June 28 in Panama City,

Florida. Charter school stakeholders attended

workshops on law, governance, start-ups, and

finances that were lead by such experts as Taylor

Smith, Billy Buzzett, Neil Drake, and Glenn

Thomas. The evaluations on this workshop were

very positive.

Many informative materials were given to

participants including an accountability manual

that pulled together the current school code,

guidelines on the Sunshine State Standards,

FCAT information, and Auditor General

guidelines in one convenient book. These

materials were used as text in the breakout

sessions so charter schools would be fully aware

of the standards they are to uphold. The next

drive-in workshop was held in Ft. Lauderdale on

August 2

, with featured speaker Florida

Secretary of

Education Jim Horne. The

remaining two drive-in workshops are tentatively

scheduled for October 28

in Orlando and

November 22

in Gainesville.

Many charter schools and districts have taken

advantage of the Center’s technical assistance.

Thirty-four (34) existing and new charter schools

have contacted the Center for direct technical

assistance. Besides networking and helping

individual schools, the Center is developing

partnerships with other charter school and

educational groups by attending the National

Charter School Conference in June, hosting an

accountability think tank meeting at FSU, visiting

charter schools, and attending FDOE meetings.

Also, the Florida School Boards Association

requested assistance from the Center in

reviewing their future publication on charter

schools for their association.

Bob Metty, Director of Scholarship Programs for

the Florida Department of Education Choice

Office, attended the Institute for Justice School

Choice Support Picnic on Saturday, July 27

Pensacola, Florida. Over 40 people attended the

picnic to show their support for school choice.

Escambia County was the first county to

implement the Opportunity Scholarship Program.

This program, established under the

Bush/Brogan A+ Plan, allows students assigned

to a school receiving a failing grade for two out of

four consecutive years to chose to attend a

higher performing public school or to receive a

scholarship to attend a participating private

school.

Events, like the picnic, are important tools to get

parents involved in their children’s education and

in the school choice movement. The Institute for

Justice has aptly noted that the Opportunity

Scholarship population is a unique class of

individuals. They are typically hard-working, blue

collar laborers. They may be single, working

mothers; they may be a population who moves

repeatedly. Many do not have access to email or

a work situation which allows them to be reached

by telephone during office hours. Community

relation events are, therefore, key to increasing

parental involvement, which increases a student’s

performance both in and outside the classroom.