Charter School Application For New School Operators September 2015 1 Northwest Indiana Science and Engineering (NiSe) Public Charter School 2 PROPOSAL OVERVIEW AND ENROLLMENT PROJECTIONS Northwest Indiana Science and Engineering Name of proposed charter school: Pubic Charter School (NiSe) Proposed charter school location: * Please indicate the city/town and, if known, potential address or neighborhood of location. Virtual operators should indicate the relevant geographies the operator intends to serve. Merrillville, Indiana School district(s) of proposed location: Merrillville Legal name of group applying for charter: TRON/AGEK Educational Foundation, Inc. Augusta DeNeal, Ph.D., Ivy Tech Community Names, roles, and current employment College for all persons on applicant team, including each board member: Elonda Ervin Ph.D., Indiana State University Dwayne Tucker, Boeing Amber Cain, Griffith High School Val Carr, Highly Flavored Inc. Atty. Dawn Dawkins Designated applicant representative: Augusta DeNeal, Ph.D. TRON-AGEK’ Foundation, Inc. Address: P.O. Box 11393 Merrillville, Indiana 46410 Office and cell phone numbers: (219) 381-8287 Email address: [email protected] Planned opening year for the school: 2016 Model or focus of proposed school: (e.g., arts, college prep, dual-language, etc.) STEM Education 3 Proposed Grade Levels and Student Enrollment Indicate the grade levels the school intends to serve. Specify both the planned and maximum number of enrolled students by grade level for each year. Academic Year Grade Levels Student Enrollment (Planned/Maximum) Year 1 5-8 250 Year 2 5-9 300 Year 3 5-10 350 Year 4 5-11 375 Year 5 5-12 400 At Capacity 5-12 400 Will an application for the same charter school be submitted to another authorizer in the near future? Yes No If yes, identify the authorizer(s): Planned submission date(s): Please list the number of previous submissions for request to authorize this charter school over the past five years, as required under IC § 20-24-3-4. Include the following information: Authorizer(s): Ball State and ICSB Submission date(s): 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014,2015 4 Table of Contents PROPOSAL OVERVIEW AND ENROLLMENT PROJECTIONS ............................................................. 3 PROPOSAL NARRATIVE ............................................................................................................................ 7 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... 7 Mission Statement ................................................................................................................................... 7 Vision Statement ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Educational Need .................................................................................................................................... 8 Education Plan/School Design ................................................................................................................ 8 Governance and Leadership .................................................................................................................. 10 SECTION I: EVIDENCE OF CAPACITY .................................................................................................. 10 Community Engagement ........................................................................................................................... 12 School Leader and Leadership Team ........................................................................................................ 12 SECTION II: SCHOOL DESIGN ................................................................................................................ 17 Overall Academic Goal ............................................................................................................................. 17 Educational Plan ....................................................................................................................................... 19 STEM Content Integration .................................................................................................................... 20 Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Software .................................................................................................. 22 Medibotics Engineering Software ............................................................................................................. 24 Purdue University Calumet Pre-Collegiate Summer Engineering Program ............................................. 24 Dual Credit (College credits) .................................................................................................................... 25 NiSe’s Basic Learning Environment ......................................................................................................... 25 SciQ Outdoor Laboratory .......................................................................................................................... 25 Einstein Organic Garden Laboratory ........................................................................................................ 26 Biomedical Science Laboratory ................................................................................................................ 27 Technology ............................................................................................................................................... 27 Parent and Community Involvement......................................................................................................... 46 Performance Management ........................................................................................................................ 50 SECTION III: IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ............................................................................................... 54 Human Capital .......................................................................................................................................... 54 Faculty Recruitment .................................................................................................................................. 54 Start-Up & Operations .............................................................................................................................. 61 Facility Plan .............................................................................................................................................. 63 Budget & Finance ..................................................................................................................................... 63 5 Financial Plan ........................................................................................................................................ 63 Exhibits ......................................................................................................................................................... 66 6 PROPOSAL NARRATIVE Executive Summary TRON /AGEK’ Educational Foundation, Inc. is an Indiana not-for-profit corporation, exempt from tax under I.R.C. 501 (c) (3) (See Attachment 4). TRON/AGEK’ is authorized under the Indiana law to organize and operate a public charter school and is vested with all powers necessary for carrying out its planned programs including power to contract for services, equipment, and educational services. We will adhere to the measures to be utilized to access Compliance – Legal and Governance Compliance according to Office of Charter Schools Policy for School Assessment and Interventions (Feb. 4, 2009). The TRON/AGEK’ Educational Foundation, Inc. proposes a science, technology, engineering and science school in Merrillville, Indiana to serve children grades 5-12. The name of the proposed school is the Northwest Indiana Science and Engineering (NiSe) Public Charter School. Mission Statement NiSe Public Charter School, in collaboration with students, parents, and the community, endeavors to create an environment that challenges and supports lifelong “STEM” learners. It is our mission to provide a “quality” learning environment that will utilize STEM curricula to prepare students to enter science, technology, engineering, and mathematic programs at 2 and 4-year post-secondary institutions. Vision Statement NiSe’s ultimate goal is to assist in producing the next generation of STEM teachers, practitioners, innovators, inventors, researchers and environmentalists from Northwest Indiana. There are some major employment opportunities that will continue to occur in Northwest Indiana and nationally. However, according to the Indiana STEM Initiative Plan (2014) Indiana students are not ready for the present and predicted STEM jobs. According to this document, by 2018 there will be a shortage of 3,000,000 workers with U.S. college degrees (Carnevale, Smith, & Srohl, 2010). For our students to be competitive in the workforce, there has got to be an educational paradigm shift regarding student science learning beginning in the middle school grades to produce more STEM high school and college graduates. This proposed charter school’s mission is to make sure our children from Northwest Indiana will be prepared for these STEM career opportunities. As recommended by empirical data, our STEM plan will be an interdisciplinary educational approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts are coupled with real-world lessons