Sussex Academy's success breeds success

Sussex Academy of Arts & Sciences last week received approval from the state board of education to expand from a middle school to a school that serves students from sixth grade through high school graduation.

That’s good news for the charter school, the only independent charter school in Sussex County. It's among the county’s most successful schools: Sussex Academy has a superior rating from state education officials and is exceeding its target for state testing results.

The expansion is welcome news for many of the academy’s 335 or so students, many of whom prefer the school’s smaller learning environment and small class sizes. About half the classes at the academy have fewer than 11 students. The school curriculum is based on a model known as expeditionary learning, which emphasizes learning by doing, documented in student portfolios.

It’s a curriculum that appears to work with significantly lower costs: $9,316 per student as opposed to about $16,000 per student in Cape schools, while nearly 100 percent of students are promoted through the academy’s three grades. At a time when Cape schools are nearing capacity, the academy offers an attractive and successful option for a significant number of students.

Sussex Academy’s approval came on the heels of a similar expansion request for Newark Charter, approved on conditions that include improving outreach to diversify the student population. Sussex Academy was approved without conditions, yet like Newark Charter, the academy’s enrollment and staff are less diverse than the Georgetown area where it is located.

Delaware authorized charter schools to provide all Delaware residents with alternatives to traditional public education, particularly for parents who cannot afford private schools.

As state education officials pointed out in approving Newark Charter, charter schools should closely reflect the racial and economic diversity of the public school population in their communities.

Low-income students are just as likely as any other to thrive in the academy’s smaller classrooms and take advantage of the innovative programs charter schools are designed to offer.

Sussex Academy can avoid the bitter conflict that arose in Newark, and build on its winning ways, by reaching out now to diversify both its enrollment and its staff.