CHARTER SCHOOL WELCOMED IN ST. LOUIS

The superintendent of St. Louis public schools welcomes a proposed charter school for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders .

Dr. Cleveland Hammonds Jr. said the proposed Lift for Life Academy isn't competing for the district's students but rather would target at-risk students who are in danger of dropping out of the city's traditional public schools.

"If I understand the philosophy of the school, we wouldn't be losing revenue because they would be reclaiming students that either have dropped out or are close to dropping out," he said.

State aid is based on student attendance. Charter schools are public schools, and as such they receive state funding like regular school districts.

Organizers of the proposed academy applied Feb. 14 to Southeast Missouri State University for a charter to establish the school. The Board of Regents has 60 days to act on the application. The university has set up an evaluation team to review the application.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast president, said Wednesday that the university wants a good relationship with the St. Louis School District. "We don't want to be in conflict with the St. Louis public school system," he said.

Dobbins welcomed Hammonds' comments regarding the proposed charter school. "We are very pleased that he is in agreement with this concept."

Dobbins said the proposed charter school would be similar to public alternative schools that seek to educate dropouts and at-risk students.

The proposed academy in downtown St. Louis initially would serve 60 sixth-graders. Enrollment would be expanded to 180 students in three grades by the third year.

Hammonds recently met with Marshall Cohen, founder of Lift for Life Gym. Cohen and his wife, Carla Scissors-Cohen, have operated the Lift for Life after-school program for 11 years. The after-school program centers on athletics and weightlifting in particular.

Their not-for-profit company wants to operate the academy in the same building as the gym for the first year.

"We aren't trying to steal students," Scissors-Cohen said. "We are trying to help students. We know that there are students that fall between the cracks."

She said their organization wants to get along with the public school district. "We want a positive relationship."

Scissors-Cohen said the goal is to keep at-risk students in school so they won't end up dropping out when they get to high school.

"This is really for kids who are reading way below their grade level," she said. "The goal is to get them fired up and caught up about education."

Organizers hope to do that partly through small class sizes. "We are proposing 15 kids in a classroom."

Initially, Lift for Life wants to employ three teachers and a principal, who also would teach. Some part-time staff also would be employed.

"There is no question this is going to be a lot of work for everybody," said Scissors-Cohen, who serves on the board of directors of Lift for Life Gym.

Students in the academy also would be invited to participate in the after-school gym program.

Lift for Life's after-school program already serves about 400 children at two facilities in St. Louis. The children are primarily 11 to 14.

Scissors-Cohen said the after-school program is already serving middle-school-age students.

"We know kids right now who might be excellent candidates for the school," she said.

Hammonds philosophically opposes charter schools. But he said schools such as the proposed Lift for Life Academy can serve a function if they target at-risk students.

"If they find a way of retaining those students, that would be a plus for us and not a minus," he said.

Hammonds said the high-school dropout rate in the St. Louis public schools is 15.6 percent. At one time it was 24.9 percent. "We are making progress," he said.

But Hammonds said there is plenty of room for a charter middle school that targets at at-risk students. "If they stick to that definition, they will have enough students for that school," he said.