New high school for Camden next year
Camden school officials announced plans Tuesday for Mastery Charter Schools to open a new high school in North Camden. Mastery intends to operate a charter-public hybrid "Renaissance" school out of the former Pyne Poynt Middle School building, which currently houses students attending Mastery's North Camden Elementary School. Those students will eventually move into a new facility that Mastery is constructing in Cramer Hill.
Camden school officials announced plans Tuesday for Mastery Charter Schools to open a new high school in North Camden.
Mastery intends to operate a charter-public hybrid "Renaissance" school out of the former Pyne Poynt Middle School building, which currently houses students attending Mastery's North Camden Elementary School. Those students will eventually move into a new facility that Mastery is constructing in Cramer Hill.
North Camden has never had a high school, and public school students in the area traditionally attend Woodrow Wilson in East Camden, about two miles away.
In September, community activist Bryan Morton and his organization, Parents for Great Camden Schools, gave Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard a petition signed by 5,000 parents asking for a neighborhood high school and increased access to the city's charter and Renaissance school network. Rouhanifard, appointed by Gov. Christie when the state took over the district in 2013, unveiled the decision Tuesday to some of those parents, saying they had influenced it.
Mastery already operates five Renaissance schools out of district buildings in Camden. The nonprofit plans to renovate Pyne Poynt by 2017, but would open in a temporary location next fall so that ninth-grade students throughout the city could enroll, said district spokesman Brendan Lowe. The school's size, program offerings, and other details will be determined in future meetings, he said.
The expansion of charter and Renaissance schools in Camden has drawn criticism from some parents and educators who question whether turning traditional public schools over to private operators is the only way to improve the failing district.
Unlike charter schools, Renaissance schools guarantee seats to children in their neighborhoods. They are publicly funded and have contracts with the district mandating that they provide services such as special education.
They also must operate in new or significantly renovated buildings, which Rouhanifard has said is a priority in terms of improving Camden's schools.
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