Three charter-school operators with a combined enrollment of more than 5,000 Atlanta students won approvals to operate through June 2024.
The State Board of Education last week unanimously voted to extend the charter terms for KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools and Centennial Academy. The board in February renewed Atlanta Classical Academy’s charter.
The state’s approval is the final step in the charter-renewal process and allows the schools to operate for another five years.
In November, the Atlanta school board, which authorizes each of the schools, gave its approval to the charter renewals, though the KIPP charter extension squeaked by on a 5-4 vote.
KIPP's enrollment is the largest of the three charter-school operators. About 3,675 students now attend eight KIPP schools, according to state documents. The new charter agreement calls for enrollment to increase up to 4,750 students by 2024.
Most of the enrollment growth will come from opening the fifth-through-eighth grade KIPP Soul Academy in 2020 and at KIPP Soul Primary School, which currently enrolls only kindergarteners but will expand up to the fourth grade.
“With the renewal of our charter, we are looking forward to the next five years of ongoing impact. We are excited to partner with students, families, and communities to increase college-preparatory opportunities for our students as we open and grow the schools in our current growth plan,” said Kinnari Patel-Smyth, KIPP’s executive director, in a written statement.
When the KIPP charter renewal came before the Atlanta school board late last year, some board members raised questions about the renewal process and building use, including a related five-year lease of the former Blalock Elementary School by KIPP. The building in northwest Atlanta will house KIPP Soul Primary beginning this fall and Soul Academy when it opens the following year.
Community members who support traditional schools also have expressed concern about how the growth of charter schools diverts money and students from district-run schools.
The other two recently renewed charter operators, Centennial Academy and Atlanta Classical Academy, have fewer students than KIPP. Atlanta Classical’s enrollment would remain at about 700 students through the next five years, while Centennial would enroll about 800 students.
Centennial, which serves kindergarten through eighth grades, issued a statement saying officials are “elated” by the charter extension.
“With the new charter, the school will continue to foster in scholars a passion for learning, teaching them the importance of rigorous inquiry, and giving them a sense of leadership as a responsibility to the world,” read the Centennial statement.
Two new charter schools will open in Atlanta in the fall, though those schools are authorized by the State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia, not APS.
Ethos Classical and the Harriet Tubman School of Science and Tech will both serve elementary students in southwest Atlanta. Ethos will be located at 2295 Springdale Circle SW and the Tubman school will be located at 953 Ralph Abernathy Blvd. SW.
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