Nashua School District seeks to open charter school

If Nashua were to open a charter school, it would be eligible for a portion of the federal grant to help with start-up costs.

There are 10 public charter schools in the state, including the Academy for Science and Design in Merrimack. It also includes the Virtual Learning Academy, which provides online courses to students across the state. Students either take individual classes or enroll as full-time students.

There is no tuition for charter schools. They receive a per-pupil stipend from the state and students can attend and if more students apply than there are spots, a lottery must be held. However, some have certain admissions requirements. For example, the Merrimack school has an exam students must pass to be accepted.

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Nashua school board stands pat, considers priorities

“Trying to give students opportunities that are outside the normal get-in-the-classroom, have-a-teacher-in-front-of-you kind of experience,” Hallowell said.

He said one possibility may be taking advantage of the online courses offered by the Virtual Learning Academy, a public online charter school. The academy is available tuition-free to all New Hampshire students.

The academy has an enrollment of about 3,000 students, almost all of whom are high school students from across the state taking courses in addition to being enrolled at their local school.

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Exeter area Around the Schools

SST students compete in national convention

EXETER — Eight members of the Seacoast School of Technology FFA chapter recently traveled to Indianapolis and represented New Hampshire in a variety of competitions and activities at the 83rd National FFA Convention.

Team members included Andrea Batchelder, Exeter, Jessica Bick, Exeter, Elizabeth Murphy, Exeter, Sarah Walstad, Exeter, Alyana Perkins, Winnacunnet, Brianna Brand, Winnacunnet, Chelsea Ahearn, Winnacunnet, Tyler Smith, Raymond and Karen Sarosiek, Virtual Learning Academy. Animal & Plant Science teacher and FFA Advisor Anne DeMarco coached the team.

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Impressive flexibility from Concord High

Some teachers were willing to conduct their courses by e-mail. For a couple of courses, we took advantage of the state’s online charter school, the Virtual Learning Academy. Overall, it was a wonderful example of educators, parents and a student coming together with the common goal of providing an excellent educational experience, regardless of where that learning takes place.

My hat is off to the people of Concord High for their flexibility and the respect they demonstrated both for their profession and my daughter.

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Bill lifting charter school cap passes

In 2003, the state created a 10-year pilot program authorizing the state Board of Education to grant up to 20 applications during that period. The state used a federal charter school start-up grant to help schools with facilities other than opening costs.

As of the fall 2009, 15 of 16 applications have been authorized. Eleven schools are still open. Among them are the Virtual Learning Academy, which provides online course opportunities for high school students across the state.

The Academy for Science and Design has grown every year since opening. It plans to add a sixth grade to its current grades of 7 through 12, and increase enrollment to 190 kids next year, almost double the current figure.

Charter schools are open to all New Hampshire students. The state was providing charter schools with $5,500 per student during the 2009-10 school year. That figure is less than half of the state’s reported average per-pupil cost for 2008-09 of $11,745.55.

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