History of NCS | Neighborhood Charter School

Evolution of the Neighborhood Charter School

It all started with an acorn — a dream to create a new kind of public school for our children. One that improves academic achievement, fosters extraordinary parental involvement, and strengthens the community in two of Atlanta's most resurgent neighborhoods. That dream is now coming true.

The Neighborhood Charter School began as a result of the efforts of an intensely motivated group of parents who aspired to send their children to an inner city public school with a diverse student population, high academic achievement, and extraordinary levels of family and community involvement. This small group of parents soon motivated scores of families — with more than 300 elementary school-aged children among them – to join in an effort to make this vision a reality.

A charter school, which was a new public school reform concept in Georgia at the time, was one of several educational options the community considered. The leaders of this effort set out to learn all they could about charter schools and to actively engage the community in the process. Volunteers went door-to-door to hundreds of homes delivering materials and discussing school options in both Spanish and English. Dozens of community meetings were held throughout the community. After three years of research, organizing the community, and dialogue with Atlanta educators, it was determined that a charter school held the greatest promise to achieve the community's vision of an extraordinary neighborhood school. A five hundred page charter petition, prepared by scores of volunteers, was formally voted on and passed by parents at a public meeting in September 2000.

The charter petition was formally endorsed by the neighborhood associations representing Grant Park and Ormewood Park, as well as the relevant Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU-W). The charter received the strong personal support of the Atlanta City Council and Atlanta Board of Education members representing the area and the Georgia Department of Education. Editors of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution also strongly endorsed the Neighborhood Charter School. In the Spring of 2001, the Neighborhood Charter School petition was unanimously approved by both the Atlanta Board of Education and the Georgia State Board of Education, which termed it a model for all other charter petitions.

After approval of the charter, the work to make the vision a reality began. Our first Executive Director, Dr. Jackie Rosswurm, was hired as were teachers and other staff. The historic Slaton building was painstakingly restored by dozens of community volunteers. Governor Roy Barnes spoke at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the school on August 10th, 2002, and on August 12th, the Neighborhood Charter School opened its doors to 105 children.

On February 8th, 2003, the Slaton Elementary School building was completely destroyed by fire. As proof of the strength of our community, not a day of school was missed after the fire. On Monday, February 10th, 2003, the Neighborhood Charter School reopened its doors in its temporary home at St. Paul United Methodist Church, a community church just a few blocks from the school site.

On February 15th, 2005 — after holding classes in a modular unit complex for a year and a half — the Neighborhood Charter School moved back into a beautifully reconstructed Slaton building. Once again, the tenacity and dedication of the Neighborhood Charter School community has demonstrated what an unwavering commitment to its children can accomplish.

The Neighborhood Charter School continues to thrive. The initial five-year charter expired in the summer of 2007. In 2005 a team of parents, faculty/staff and community members began working together to craft and submit a renewal petition of the Neighborhood Charter School contract. One unique request was made in the petition - that Neighborhood Charter School be granted not the usual five-year renewal but rather a 10-year renewal. The case was made that based upon the phenomenal past success and necessity for long-range planning, Neighborhood Charter School should be granted a 10-year charter. After a vote of approval from the Atlanta Board of Education in 2006, the Georgia State Board of Education voted on April 11th, 2007, to approve the unprecedented 10-year renewal.