Grand opening of Nibley's charter school set for Tuesday

By Diana Maxfield

September 25, 2005 | NIBLEY -- Finishing touches on the new school building and public misconceptions regarding charter schools were discussed by board members of Thomas Edison Charter School's south campus at their Thursday meeting.

Students and teachers have had to work around problems of restroom partitions and missing windows since school began Sept. 13, Principal Eldon Budge said. For the most part, however, school has gone on as normal, he said.

"The school looks great -- we're just thrilled," Budge said. "The only problem I'm concerned about is windows."

Budge also said the school will need to conduct a fire drill before Monday, since state law says a drill must be conducted within the first 10 days of school, but he has been putting that off in anticipation of sod being installed. "I want to walk our kids on grass," he said.

The windows should be in before the grand opening of the school Tueday, as should the sod, Budge said.

Board member Tally Johnson stressed that contrary to popular thought, charter schools are "free public schools," offered as an alternative to overcrowded elementary schools. Some charter schools offer specialized curriculum, Budge said, but Thomas Edison is a traditional school, offering the same basic curriculum as elementary schools.

The school does offer some curriculum not found at other elementary schools, such as music classes for fourth grade and higher students, and foreign language exploration for sixth- and seventh-graders, Budge said. Currently, language exploration is focusing on Mandarin Chinese, but the language rotates every six to seven weeks. The school is designed to move kids along more quickly by holding them to higher standards, Budge said.

Raised expectations translate to greater success levels, Budge said, as children want to meet raised expectations.

As part of these raised standards, Budge said, the school will begin recognizing those classes in which 100 percent of students complete their homework at the standard set by the school. The class which met the standard this week will join the mayor during the ribbon-cutting ceremony during the grand opening.

Other concerns regarding the full completion of the school were also addressed, including approval of the hiring of Jennifer Gines as a special education aide. The board also voted to approve a dress code for the school. The code is the same as the north campus of the school, board member Katherine Mullman said.

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