Rocketship Education sent out the first flare, meeting with Morgan Hill Unified School District administrators earlier this month to make it clear that they are intent on opening a charter school in the city in 2014.
“For us, the intent was really relationship building,” said Director of Community Development Jessica Garcia-Kohl for Rocketship Education, a San Jose-based charter organization that was approved by the Santa Clara County Office of Education to open more than 20 charter schools throughout the county.
Garcia-Kohl said MHUSD Superintendent Wes Smith and his incoming replacement, interim supe Steven Betando, who recently requested a tour of one of Rocketship’s’ existing San Jose charter schools, shared the district’s concerns about the Navigator Schools’ charter petition, which was recently pulled for revisions.
Navigator Schools Co-founder James Dent, also principal at Gilroy Prep School, said the pushing back of the petition submission in no way jeopardizes Navigator Schools’ mission of opening Morgan Hill Prep in time for the 2014-15 school year. This would mark the third school established by the charter management organization, which founded Gilroy Prep in 2012 and is gearing to open Hollister Prep in the fall of 2013.
“That’s the right way to go. They were very transparent,” said Garcia-Kohl, noting Rocketship was legally obligated to notify MHUSD of its intentions. “We let them know we wanted to be transparent, too.”
Betando, who will take over the top spot July 1 as Smith departs for his new post in Sacramento, said there isn’t much to tell about the meeting with Rocketship, but did confirm that Navigators’ petition was a topic of the introductory get-together.
Rocketship, which hopes to meet monthly with MHUSD staff, plans on going before the County Board of Education in mid-July to request a revision of its petition material, which must be altered slightly to reflect that it will be located in Morgan Hill and not San Jose. The organization is also in the process of gathering signatures from local residents who may be interested in enrolling their children at the new charter. Overall, Rocketship always targets a city’s low-income areas and neighborhoods, according to Garcia-Kohl, because “that’s what community we want to serve.”
“We’re just doing it (getting signatures) to cover all of our bases…to show there is a demand in Morgan Hill,” she added.
SCCOE Chief Strategy Officer Toni Cordova said the revision process works the same as the actual petition proceedings, such as the one that Navigator Schools is going through. The Board will host a mandatory public hearing before voting on the revision, which is reviewed by county staff to ensure it still meets the same standards. Cordova added: the hearing and vote could happen at the same meeting.
If it’s revised petition is approved, Rocketship will “turn to (its) facilities team to find a site,” said Garcia-Kohl. “Our hope is we will be able to find a current site where we can sign a long-term lease agreement or find land where we can bring in one of our buildings.”
Betando said he suggested to Rocketship leaders they look for property near the neighborhood of the community they want to serve.
By “our buildings,” Rocketship – if unable to find any suitable existing facilities in Morgan Hill – will use prefabricated, modular buildings, which consist of several factory-built components that are assembled onsite to complete the unit.
The organization has done this in the past with its other sites including charters in San Jose; Alma Academy at 198 West Alma Ave.; and Rocketship Spark Academy (where the district actually provided the land and long-term lease agreement.)
If all goes as Rocketship plans, it’s new charter will open in 2014, enroll 630 students in the first year and serve families in South San Jose, Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy. Parents can transport their children from anywhere in the county if so desired, since Rocketship operates under the county’s oversight.
Drawn to Morgan Hill by a recent influx of parental requests, Rocketship – whose mission is to lower the achievement gap – has found success at its other schools such as Rocketship’s Mateo Sheedy Elementary School, which opened in 2007 in San Jose. With 89 percent Latino students, 87 percent students on free and reduced lunch and 63 percent English Language Learners, Mateo Sheedy scored a 924 on the Academic Performance Index – the state’s yardstick for measuring academic success. The API’s benchmark score is 800.
Sheedy’s 924 was the sixth highest API within the San Jose Unified School District.
