Eeek no EKA!

The next school you may be considering is EKA, Explore Knowledge Academy. There are two addresses. A Lower School campus that is located on some church property (I have it on good authority that the church would like it's building back at some point in the future so look for this campus to be changing locations at some point), and an Upper School campus located just off of Mountain Vista near Sunset. Admittedly, this author has mostly dated information regarding the Lower school. What I do know is that the current director of the Lower School is much preferred over the past principal (who is involved in the formation of a new Charter School in Henderson which opens for the 09-10' school year but more about that one in a later post). It seems that when the last principal was there things ran amuck. Originally there was only one campus and the principal was over the entire school. Parents were definitely not happy with the way the school was being run and there was even some drama with a walk out by the teachers which was captured by local news stations. A big shake up ensued and there was a split of the campuses. A new director was named for the Upper School. I met him personally and was quite impressed.
The principal resigned or retired but left the school. A new director was named for the Lower School. I've met this gentleman personally as well and I was also impressed. Parents were happy with the new choices and happy that the principal was leaving. Unfortunately, the school has had trouble gaining momentum from the exodus of teachers and good families. The school, especially the Upper school was generally thought of in the community as some sort of variation of Op School (Opportunity School) where children who were not welcome at their zoned school could attend and still get a public education. Whether the perception was correct or not it has lingered and has hampered the ability of the Upper School to attract many who solidly believe in the ideals of a Charter school education. The new director seemed to be changing that and seemed also to be well liked by the students and the parents that I know who have children attending the school. Alas, he too, left the school and the school is more than tight lipped about his departure. According to the Board meeting where this was all decided, it was not wrong doing on his part but was a snafu nonetheless. His successor, in this authors opinion, lacks his personality and passion for Charter education.

The nuts and bolts of it is this. The curriculum is "Project Based" this means, and this is an oversimplification, that the students have the ability to dive into subjects a little more deeply. A project is decided on and agreed to by the student and teacher. There is a contracted time for the project and checkpoints along the way. The students attend school Tuesday through Friday and are off every Monday to work on their projects. If you have a child who is self directed, this type of curriculum is not a problem. The work environment is chaotic and noisy to the observer. I toured the school with my child. It was my child who noted that it would be a difficult environment to work in. There are no individual classrooms. Instead the students and teachers are grouped into pods and work in areas that are sectioned off with office cubicle dividers. My child referred to it as un-school. There is more than adequate playground and play equiment for students in the Lower School. At the Upper School there is only one basketball hoop in the parking lot of the office building where the school is located. It was explained to me on a tour of the school that the children for P.E. sometimes bowl at the local bowling alley a few blocks away or jog or walk a selected route around the block near the school. It made me nervous but the students that I asked (all three of them) liked the P.E. teacher and the activities that they do. Probably the best option that the Upper School has to offer is two different start times for students. There are students who start at the more traditional 8 ish and there are students who do not start their day until around 3 and go into the evening. There is no going back and forth between start times, they are different programs that the students are enrolled for. The later start time certainly has it's appeal and the students that I spoke with who attended the late session were very happy to have that option.

I can not tell you whether lunch is offered by the Lower School. I do know that the Upper School prior to the exit of the director was contracting with a caterer to be able to have some sort of school lunch. There is a First Aid and Safety Assistant (FASA) on duty at the Upper and Lower School (along with a school nurse who may actually do double duty at both campuses). EKA is the only Charter school in town to be affiliated with CCSD but the affiliation is loose at best.