Renaissance Charter School At Wellington Offers A Unique And Personalized Approach To Education By Deborah Welky
Although it could be mistaken for a private school at first glance, the Renaissance Charter School at Wellington is actually a public school, one of six in Palm Beach County (and 77 nationwide) run by Charter Schools USA. There is no tuition, although students do buy and wear uniforms. But that’s not all that distinguishes a charter school from a private school. “A district public charter school has to apply to open, getting approval from, in some cases, the district and, in some cases, the state,” Colleen Reynolds of Charter Schools USA explained. “They must come to the table with a plan of education, and they must perform to a certain level or they get shut down. A charter school has to succeed.” Charter schools must also define what is acceptable to parents in each
region they serve, then meet those expectations. “The advantage that Charter Schools USA has is that we have been managing charter schools for 20 years and have been able to establish an educational model that’s called ‘a guaranteed and viable curriculum,’” Reynolds said. “If the model is followed with fidelity, the curriculum is guaranteed — the students will grow and succeed. Each child
is taught and learns until they reach mastery. We run benchmark testing and base the curriculum on this data. If a student is not reaching 80 percent mastery, the teacher goes back and teaches the subject again, perhaps in a different, more innovative way.” This is because Charter Schools USA believes that a test score is not a reflection of the student as much as it is a reflection of the teacher. “It really makes sense when you think about it. What sense does it make for a student to fail a test and keep on going?” Reynolds asked. “Another thing that sets our charter schools apart is the personal learning plan. It’s a collaboration of teacher, parent and student. We figure out where the student is and set wellington the magazine | june 2016
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