Wednesday, July 23, 2008

McKinney’s Imagine International Academy moves closer to existence

By Staff of McKinneyNews.net

The Imagine International Academy of North Texas was recently notified that its charter application has received the necessary points to be considered a finalist, making the school eligible for interviews with the Texas State Board of Education in mid-September. Five independent reviewers rated the school’s charter application out of 200 possible points. The application submitted by the Imagine International Academy of North Texas received scores of 200, 199, 190, 185 and 177, for an average score of 190.

“We feel these high scores are reflective of the overall quality of our proposed curriculum, our commitment to fiscal and academic excellence and the general expertise of those associated with this school,” said Julia Brady, Imagine Schools’ North Texas Development Director.

“Having such strong community support with currently almost 1,200 families indicating interest in this school, should clearly demonstrate to the Texas State Board of Education how eagerly parents in this area would like to see additional choices within the local public education system,” added Brady from St Louis, Mo., where she is attending the annual Imagine Schools National Conference.

The school will proceed to the interview phase in mid-September, during which its governing board will be interviewed by the Texas State Board of Education's Committee on School Initiatives. Following the interviews, the committee will vote on which candidates to award charters. Final results will be announced later that month.

“While we are thrilled by the scores, our efforts to bring an exciting education alternative to our area are ongoing. We would encourage area residents to register a statement of interest on our website to ensure we can present a true measure of community support at the September interviews,” said Paul Gosling, a spokesperson for the school’s local founding group.

The proposed school would be an innovative option within the public education system for residents of Allen, Celina, Frisco, Lovejoy, Princeton, Prosper, McKinney, and Melissa independent school districts. Pending approval of the charter application, the school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2009 with grades K-8 serving approximately 100 students per grade.

For additional information, to sign up for email updates, and to register an online statement of interest, visit the school’s website at www.imagineinternationalacademy.org.

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