Tower charter school receives state approval

TOWER—The Vermilion Country School has been formally approved by the Minnesota Department of Education, clearing the way for the new grades 7-12 public charter school to open in Tower in the fall of 2012. The department issued its approval on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

“It’s wonderful news,” said VCS Board Chair Jodi Summit. “We’ve been working towards this goal for three years and we’re thrilled we’ve finally gotten the green light.”

While the approval is a major step forward, Summit said much work remains to be done before the new school is ready to open. “Now the real work starts,” said Summit. “We’ve got many, many details on school governance, transportation, facilities, teacher training, and educational programming to work out. It’s a big job, but we’ve got a great board and so much support from the community. We know we’ll get it done.”

As a public school, that will receive its funding primarily from the state of Minnesota, the new school will be open to all students in grades 7-12, with no tuition required. The school will provide a highly individualized educational program for students, according to Summit. “This will be a small school, where we can focus attention on each student and design learning programs that truly meet their needs and interests,” she said.

While students at VCS will still need to study all subject areas and meet state standards, they will have much greater autonomy than in a traditional school about how they meet their educational requirements. Students will work closely with their teachers to develop individual “projects” in each subject area, which can range from community service work out in the community to taking an online course, to an intern position or apprenticeship.

Fourteen students in Tower are currently enrolled in a similar project-based charter school, known as Edvisions Off-Campus School. While that school operates online, the impact of the programming has been extraordinary, said Rebecca Gawboy, a VCS founder, who has nine children enrolled this year in the Edvisions school. “For my kids, it’s been transformational. I have children who have hated school and made little progress in the traditional system. Now they are making tremendous strides. I’d never go back to a traditional system,” she said. Summit noted that the VCS program will be based on Edvisions’ project-based model, but will be an actual school, rather than a virtual one.

According to Summit, the VCS board will be holding public informational meetings in the near future to provide more information to prospective students, parents, and the public about their plans for the school.

The approval of the new charter school is being greeted with excitement from many in Tower-Soudan, where the communities’ existing junior and senior high school was closed last year as part of a school district reorganization.

“This is really good news,” said Tower Mayor Steve Abrahamson. “I think there’s tremendous opportunity here to do something very creative and exciting.”

Vermilion Chamber of Commerce President Troy Swanson agreed. “It’s good all the way around,” he said. “Having a K-12 educational option back in the community is critically important. With a newly-renovated elementary and an independent 7-12 with an innovative educational model, Tower-Soudan will have some very attractive educational options,” he added.

Swanson said the new employment the charter school will provide will be another boost to the community.

Facility renovations needed

Perhaps the biggest remaining challenge for VCS is to complete renovations at the former Powerain building in Tower, where organizers plan to locate the new school. The Tower Economic Development Authority is working actively with the school’s board to renovate the site in time for a fall 2012 opening. While the former manufacturing facility is large enough to accommodate the new school, Summit said significant renovations will be required, including the installation of new lighting and a front entrance, as well as a kitchen, dining room, and probably a suspended ceiling. “We’ll be working with an architect in the next few weeks to develop a concept plan and a budget for all the changes,” said Summit.

The Tower Economic Development Authority, which owns the building, would need to finance the building improvements, which would be repaid through lease aid the state will supply to the new charter school.

The charter school had earlier hoped to locate in the 1917 wing of the former Tower-Soudan School as part of a deal struck with the St. Louis County School Board back in 2009. But the school district later reneged on its commitment to make the space available to the charter school and opted to demolish the 1917 wing rather than lease it to the charter school.

Questions?

‰ You can find out more about the Vermilion Country School at the school’s website at www.vermilioncountryschool.com, or on the school’s Facebook page.

‰ You can also call VCS Board Chair Jodi Summit at 753-2950 or 753-2179.