Fairfield is set to open its first charter school next year, adding to a growing charter landscape in the greater Birmingham area.
The Alabama Public Charter School Commission unanimously approved Independence Preparatory Academy’s charter application Tuesday. The K-8 school joins six other Birmingham-area charter schools. It plans to open its doors to local kindergarten and 2nd-grade students in 2024 and add a grade each year.
Leaders say the academy aims to meet the “needs of the most deserving students” in the area by providing extra learning support and college and career opportunities.
“Our mission is to foster a learning environment that prepares students to break the cycle of poverty, improve their lives, and strengthen their community,” founder Calandra Sales said at a presentation before the board on Tuesday.
Read more on Alabama charter schools:
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- Alabama charter schools perform better than local public schools. Sometimes.
Once a booming Birmingham suburb, Fairfield’s population declined as the steel industry waned, exacerbating poverty in the area.
Today, nearly three-fourths of Fairfield students are economically disadvantaged. As of 2022, 21% of Fairfield students were proficient in English and language arts and 4% were proficient in math, according to state data.
To help bridge gaps and boost proficiency, Sales said Independence Prep staff will be intentional about using time within the school day to support students who need extra math and reading instruction.
Students will receive between 40 minutes to an hour of reading and math acceleration at least four to five times a week, Sales said, in addition to regular coursework. Teachers will also offer time in the day to talk with students about their individual goals – whether that’s improving their score on a test or improving their writing skills.
Independence Prep leaders have partnerships with several community organizations to expose students to a variety of career fields. Twice a year, students will spend two weeks completing career-oriented projects, called “Eagle Quests.”
Sales believes her approach will help grow Fairfield’s tax base and contribute to a “renewed and thriving” city.
The model, she said, is based on a prototype she developed during her time at New Schools for Alabama and Building Excellent Schools, two organizations that help to strengthen charter leaders, as well as a series of community and parent surveys.
At least half of the school’s board members live, work or worship in Fairfield, she added.
But some district leaders are wary about the school’s ability to serve all students.
“Our neighborhood is going through a lot of trauma,” Superintendent Regina Thompson said at a public hearing last month. “We’re not just any regular school district for you to just come in and take over and say ‘OK, we want to serve and do better.’ “It goes much deeper than that. Our kids really need a lot of help. They need a lot of servicing.”
Fairfield City Schools is not a charter school authorizer, meaning they have no control over local applications.
Still, Thompson said that she wished Independence Prep leaders came to her first about the proposal to ensure that leaders had the proper support for students with disabilities and other populations.
She added that the district also has a robust character education program and has worked hard to address learning loss.
“I think as partners, sometimes we can come together and do those things,” she said. “But first we have to come to the table.”
Commissioners Paul Morin and Luis Ferrer echoed Johnson’s concerns at the Tuesday meeting, asking leaders for “substantial proof” of the school’s commitment to provide costly services like buses and school meals.
“It’s very obvious that you have a very strategic plan of instruction and engagement with the kids,” Morin said. “But at the end of the day, they have to eat and they have to get there and they have to get home.”
Sales said she is confident the school can sustain its facilities and services, including up to five special education staff members. She has already received $330,000 in funding from New Schools for Alabama and anticipates a total of $2.45 million in start-up grants, she said.
“We really do have a lot of supporters, locally and internationally, who are providing critical resources and services to our school and we are so grateful to have them behind this,” she said.
A total of 13 charter schools have opened in Alabama since the state’s charter law was passed in 2015. Freedom Prep Academy in Titusville and The Floretta P. Carson Visual and Performing Arts Academy in Mobile are set to open next year as well.
At the same meeting Tuesday, the commission denied an appeal for I Dream Big Academy, a Montgomery-based charter.
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