Beacon Academy "bursting at the seams"

Beacon Academy, a Core Knowledge-based charter school, has outgrown its current building in Plymouth. I have been following the creation and evolution of this charter school since it was just an idea. Hearing about Beacon's growing pains and then growing successes from Beacon's director (and my friend), Jordan Ford, has been heartening.

As reported by the Sun Newspapers ("Beacon Academy interested in leasing Pilgrim Lane in Plymouth," February 12, 2009), Beacon is interested in leasing (or buying) Pilgrim Lane Elementary, one of three Robbinsdale District 281 buildings scheduled to close at the end of the school year due to excess capacity:

Tamara Harken of Crystal, chair of the Beacon Academy board of directors, sent a letter to District 281 Board Chair Tom Walsh on Jan. 9, expressing her school's interest in leasing Pilgrim Lane beginning this fall.

"Our five-year plan to mature into a K-8 school has come to fruition, and we are currently searching for a location to house our 2009-2010 student body of 400 children," Harken's letter stated.

"It's nice to be bursting at the seams versus dealing with declining enrollment," said Ford.

The Sun Sailor reported that "District 281's policy until 2007 was not to rent or sell its surplus buildings to other schools that potentially would compete for the district's students."

The attitude that puts protecting one's turf ahead of serving the families of our community could be one reason that enrollment in some school districts is declining, while enrollment in charter schools like Beacon Academy is rising. Public school districts should not be afraid of school choice. In Sweden, public education funding follows the child, with the support of even the Swedish Teachers Union:

Sweden's school choice system was introduced in 1992. It is based on a virtual "voucher" which is equivalent in value to the average cost of educating a child in the local state school.

Parents can use this "voucher" to "buy" a place at the school of their choice. The idea is that funding follows the pupil and, in this way, the state supports the schools that are most popular with parents.

—"Swedish parents enjoy school choice," BBC.com

Beacon Academy's success glossed over

If you were looking for mention of the Beacon Academy charter school of Plymouth, Minnesota on a recent KSTP-TV "5 Eyewitness News Investigates" segment about charter schools, and if you blinked, you may have missed it.

That's because the story focused on various charter schools that are violating Minnesota law, and on calls to overhaul those laws, so the story mentions Beacon Academy by contrast as a success story. According to the Minnesota Department of Education, their teachers are 100% licensed and 100% Highly Qualified per federal standards. They're playing by the rules, and must be doing something right, if the portable classrooms and waiting list are any indication.

Beacon Academy is a fast-growing, K-8 charter school, opened in 2004, with a current enrollment of about 400, with two sections per grade. Beacon Academy is based on the Core Knowledge Sequence and Saxon Math. Beacon's sponsor is Friends of Ascension, which sponsors over a dozen charter schools in the Twin Cities area.

Beacon provides a traditional math alternative to the integrated math delivered by local public school districts (Wayzata Central Middle School was a field test site for Connected Mathematics 2). Its Core Knowledge Sequence is a knowledge-based alternative to public school curricula that still contain remnants of the process-based, "fuzzy" Profile of Learning state standards that were repealed in 2003.

In short, Beacon strives to provide the kind of private school, classical education promoted on this blog, but at public school prices (that is, no tuition — charter schools are public schools).

Beacon Preparatory School, the grades 9-12 charter school I reported on a couple of years ago that was related to Beacon Academy, is now connected with Seven Hills Classical Academy charter school in Bloomington.

Beacon Academy's director, Jordan Ford, is a friend of mine. He has extensive experience as a public school teacher and curriculum director, and as a private school principal. Ford has the heart for kids and learning that you would want in your child's or grandchild's principal. Beacon's detailed 2007 state report card is available on the Minnesota Department of Education web site.