Open Door Academy Application

APERIRE OSTIUM AD DIVERSE SCHOLAR

Executive Summary

Mission: At the Open Door Academy, our mission is to prepare a diverse scholar population with an educational foundation for success in life and address the societal variables which could limit learning.

Vision: The Open Door Academy’s vision is to create an environment of academic excellence characterized by educators who mentor, nurture, guide and trust students. Our Classical Education model was selected because of the unique way it encourages students to develop a natural thirst to learn in preparation for their lifelong journeys. Our vision is threefold: • Instill core classical educational concepts as a foundation for future growth and learning; • Develop a new generation of skilled talent by seamlessly transitioning learners to high-tech, high-wage jobs; • Increase the number of underserved and underrepresented students in these fields.

We have a deep commitment to providing students with an interdisciplinary approach to education, experiential learning and all the necessary supports to be successful. Our multi-faceted model leverages our dedicated staff, community programming and resources, and industry partnerships. • An environment where teachers, support staff, and administrators lead by example and model what is good, true and beautiful. • A time tested, standards aligned curriculum that is designed to the needs, strengths, abilities, and learning style of each student to maximize student achievement. The curriculum will exceed the requirements of the Indiana College and Career Ready Academic Standards. • An open and receptive learning atmosphere that respects and encourages the individual ideas and intellectual pursuits of every student and faculty member. • Instructors that receive continuing education on the delivery, planning, academic and emotional benefits of a Classical education. Our schools will invest in teachers’ professional growth and teaching skills. • An internalization of the Benjamin Bloom’s research on personalized competency-based learning. (2-Sigma Problem) • An educational program that goes beyond the academic to include a career awareness pathway by the end of middle school, building the foundation for industry certifications in addition to college preparation. • Where technology is a transformative tool. Through a blended learning model, the Open Door Academy will provide a personalized high valued learning environment. • An awareness that every student’s life has challenges that need to be addressed to provide a successful educational experience.

To uniquely distinguish it from other blended learning models, the Open Door model eventually will be “open” six days a week throughout the year with extended daily hours. This “always open” school can better meet the flexible needs of parents, students, and workplaces. We believe relationships are the key to our success. We accomplish this by partnering with parents to provide a rigorous, time tested classical education. We strive to equip and train our teachers with academically excellent tools with the goal of instilling a lifelong love of learning in our scholars.

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Educational Need and Target Population The Muncie Community is the geographic target. The target population are students whose families live in Muncie and have, or would, transfer out to the surrounding school systems, and students that have situations that require additional support and flexibility that local schools do not support. Muncie Community Schools in all categories are far below the state average. https://inview.doe.in.gov/corporations/1019700000/proficiency Two thirds of the students are economically disadvantaged. https://inview.doe.in.gov/corporations/1019700000/population Additionally, the focus on career education and use of transformational technology will address the lack of such opportunities in the community. Finally, there is a strong need for quality education in Muncie. Muncie Community Schools didn’t even report their school grades in 2019, and most likely won’t for 2020, and most of the Elementary and Middle Schools had grades of D or F in 2018. (IN DOE) Targeted Community: The Open Door Academy will be the only approved charter school with a Classical education curriculum. The Muncie area is in need of options for parents looking for a rigorous K-8 program, with a focus on Social Emotional Learning. There is only one regular charter school in Muncie and it serves less than 10% of the students that choose to leave the public schools of the 30% that have left the Muncie Community Schools. Current choice options include the following: School/Corp Students Type Non-Muncie Public Schools 1,379 non-Muncie Indiana Connections Career Academy 2 Virtual Burris Laboratory School 435 University Lab School Indiana Academy for Sci Math Hmn 25 University Lab School Inspire Academy - A Sch of Inquiry 182 Charter School Indiana Connections Academy 33 Virtual 2,056 The school will use a current school structure of 30,000 square feet and eventually service grades Kindergarten to 8th grade. The intention is to open as a Kindergarten to 6th grade campus in the first year and then grow to 8th grade by the third year. The Open Door Academy Governing Board is proposing one campus with a planned opening date of August of 2021 with 150 students and a full capacity of 350 scholars in year three. The school is proposing to remodel a campus on a 6 acre site with a gym, state of the art security, play fields, technology and science/art/career facilities. • There are very few public school choices for the families of the proposed school. • The focus on academic rigor and social emotional learning found in the Classical Education model matches the unique aspects of the area. • The region has experienced a significant transfer rate of 30% to surrounding school locations outside of the community. As parents want local choices in schools, the Open Door Academy will become an important draw to the region.

State Funded Students with Legal Settlement Resident Public Transfers: Corporation Name (D + F + H) Enrollee Outgoing Muncie Community Schools 7147 4709 2282 School Year 2019-20 Fall Membership Count https://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/accountability/fall-2019-2020-public-corporation-transfer- report.xlsx

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Community Engagement The Webster Foundation has already had meetings with the Mayor Dan Ridenour of Muncie to gain support for more education quality choice within the city of Muncie. The Mayor is concerned that families will continue to leave Muncie and bring down the community if parents aren’t provided improved educational choices within the city limits. The Mayor’s support letter is in Attachment 10. Churches and community groups have also been approached for marketing, educational support and as potential satellite locations for school. Several facilities for the initial school location have been evaluated and the primary site has been identified and a supportive tentative agreement within the Open Door Academy’s budget has been reached with Normal City Reality, LLC. A letter is in Attachment 14. The community school model (K8 charter, private special needs and after school programs) proposed for the Muncie community would provide full services for families. Beginning in Fall of 2020 through to school opening the objective of the Superintendent, Governing Board and early hired staff will be to implement a program to engage the community in the Open Door Academy not only to develop, but to listen to the needs of the community and adjust accordingly. Our strategic plan for enrollment includes a budget of $50,000 for traditional marketing and advertising. During the yearlong enrollment and marketing period, all efforts will be tailored towards listening to the community and engaging the families, businesses and civic organizations/churches in spreading the word of the school. Special focus will be placed on area preschools. Community efforts will include development of a PTA, outreach during community events, meeting with area churches, forming a partnership with the Muncie Chamber of Commerce and working with the Muncie Parks Department. We will also work with the Muncie Indiana Transit System for transportation needs.

Educational Plan/School Design Classical /Open Door The proposed school will be built around the Classical Education pedagogy and include hands on, student centered learning as modeled by 18th century educator, Charlotte Mason. But it will have a strong technology foundation. The Governing board is committed to build a school with the following framework as a guide. We believe each student deserves: • An environment where teachers, support staff, and administrators lead by example and model what is good, true and beautiful. Our campus will work to foster meaningful student-faculty- parent interaction, in alignment with the Adlerian philosophies of Dr. Rudolf Dreikersand Dr. William Glasser which focus on the power of relationships. • A time tested, standards aligned curriculum that is designed to the needs, strengths, abilities, and learning style of each student to maximize student achievement; • An environment reinforcing the Charlotte Mason philosophy that every individual has a unique potential that can be developed, while understanding that not every student can be successful all of the time; • An open and receptive learning atmosphere that respects and encourages the individual ideas and intellectual pursuits of every student and faculty member; • Instructors that receive continuing education on the delivery, planning, academic and emotional benefits of a Classical education. The Whole Child, Whole Community and Whole School from the CDC is uniquely reflective of our framework and model. (https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/wscc/index.htm). We embrace, daily physical activity, social climate, emotional support, state-of-the-art facilities, community involvement and family engagement. The Open Door Academy’s, Governing Board believes in the merits of a Classical Education program with a focus on rigor, character education and high expectations. During their organizational and

3 planning meetings, the board identified the Muncie area as an opportunity to open a school that serves families at all levels of the socioeconomic spectrum. The following vision and mission statements are the guiding principles which the Governing Board will operate the school. The selection of the instructional materials and program of instruction is uniquely aligned with Open Door Academy’s mission statement in that the interconnection of disciplines and focus on the full liberal arts education prepares scholars for the society of the future. Through deep rich literature and a focus on the arts, scholars learn what is “good, true and beautiful” and how their actions impact the community. Character development (Social and Emotional Learning) is an ongoing part of the entire campus learning experience. The Open Door Academy is implementing time tested Classical pedagogy with research-backed choices on ELA, Math, Social Studies and Science curriculum and teaching methods. Operationally Open Door Academy will employ a comprehensive program to ensure quality instruction including • Quality teacher recruitment and detailed Professional Development offerings, • Ongoing monitoring of curriculum, academic growth and teacher impact using the LoTi teacher evaluation tool. • Quality data capturing metrics that help design and improve instruction (iReady – NWEA-MAP) • Detailed intervention strategies using; MTSS/RTI, a framework with special interventions for Tier 3 students, ELL and Special Education populations. • Quality curriculum aligned to Indiana College and Career Ready Academic Standards for remediation and acceleration and special populations. The Schoology cloud based Learning Management System (LMS) has been initially chosen by the Open Door Governing Board to organize and support the teaching staff in their lesson planning and resource support. With School