BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
The Elmore County Board of Education will hold a Public Hearing at 4 p.m., Dec. 7 concerning Ivy Creek Classical Academy Charter School locating in Elmore County.
Notice of Public Hearing Concerning Ivy Classical Academy’s Application to Elmore County Board of Education
Public Hearing for Proposed Charter School: Ivy Classical Academy on December 7, 2021 at 4 P.M. at the Elmore County Board of Education Meeting Room. This meeting will be “in person” and via zoom.
The purpose of this hearing is to give the public an opportunity to voice their opinion either in favor of or in opposition to the startup of the charter school. Individual comments will be limited to three minutes.
Please direct any questions to Shay Jackson at [email protected]
or 567-1290 ext. 26004.
For those wishing to attend the meeting in person, the address is 100 H H Robinson Drive, Wetumpka, AL 36092
Initially, the Charter school applied to the state listing Autauga County as its location. However, school officials last year announced they were considering locating in the largely vacant Highpoint Town Shopping Center which is in Elmore County, but within Prattville City Limits. Open enrollment applications were taken, with Autauga County students having first preference at that time.
However, since that time the Elmore County Board of Education organization applied to be an authorizing agent for potential Charter Schools within the county. With Ivy Classical Academy now reapplying under an Elmore County location, it changes things.
“They would have to offer enrollment first to Elmore County students. If those numbers don’t fill up after a window of time, then it can be open to any student in the state,” Shay Jackson said. Jackson is over the Charter School Authorization program for the Elmore County Board of Education.
“There is an automated process but a random selection. So, of those that apply, it randomly selects, as I understand it. We are not involved in that process – the Charter school will handle that aspect. This is a process that is open to the state. We shall see how they fare. It looks like a strong program. It will be interesting to see how they pull it off,” Elmore County Superintendent Richard Dennis said. “They seem to have a lot of support to get the school open.”
“Ivy Classical was approved at a state level previously but they were listed as being in Autauga County,” Elmore County School Superintendent Richard Dennis explained. “I believe they are attempting to land at the Highpoint Town Shopping Center in Elmore County. So, they now have come back and reapplied.”
“Ivy Classical officials will come through and present their information. They already had a brief presentation in September. They are now doing the application process and submitting it to us,” Dennis said. “Their application was previously approved by the state, but officials have done some tweeking. (Such as the location) We will be reviewing that application and have the open meeting next week. After that, depending on the application’s success, the board will make a determination, and then it will be reviewed by the state.”
According to Jackson, the school is hoping to have something in the works prior to the 2022-23 school year.
“We have involved our entire leadership on this project. Shay has taken information and distributed it to our leadership team to do the assessment. We have taken a look at what it takes to create a charter school. There could potentially be some real advantages for us. We could do programs and start our own charter school within Elmore County. It could be a conversion rather than a start up that would give a lot of advantages and potential for the future,” Dennis said.
The EAN has reached out to Ivy Classical Academy for an update on their hopes and plans for the future. Bradley Neave responded, and we will have that in a separate article Wednesday.
ABOUT IVY CLASSICAL ACADEMY from their website as of Nov. 30, 2021 which still lists Autauga County students, rather than Elmore students.
Ivy Classical Academy is a Non-Profit Public Charter School that will offer a Classical Education to students in Autauga County and the surrounding area.
On February 14th, 2020, Ivy Classical Academy was announced as a finalist for The Barney Charter School Initiative, a project of Hillsdale College devoted to the education of young Americans. Through this initiative, Hillsdale College supports the launch of K-12 charter schools. These schools will train the minds and improve the hearts of young people through a rigorous, classical education in the liberal arts and sciences, with instruction in the principles of moral character and civic virtue.
The Founding Board worked with the Alabama Public Charter School Commission, New Schools for Alabama, and Barney Charter School Initiative to gain State approval to begin enrolling K-6 students in the Fall of 2022.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to train our student’s minds and hearts through a classical, content-rich curriculum that puts an emphasis on virtuous living, traditional learning, and civic responsibility.
ENROLLMENT
Ivy Classical Academy is an open enrollment, tuition-free public charter school. All Autauga area students are eligible to attend, with seats filled through a lottery system.
GRADES K-6
The inaugural school year will launch in Fall 2022. Initially, the school will only enroll grades K-6, but each subsequent year a grade will be added until Ivy Classical Academy becomes K-12.
To learn more about Ivy Classical Academy, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ivyclassical
Or their Website at https://ivyclassical.com/
