Charter school’s expansion effort takes off

• By CHARLES LUSSIER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Mar 28, 2009 - Page: 1B

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A local charter middle school was approved to add a high school in December, but the school is expanding more quickly than originally planned.

The Community School for Apprenticeship Learning, or CSAL, is opening Madison Preparatory Academy, a small high school, in August.

Principal Dujan Johnson said on Friday he is recruiting as many as 100 ninth graders for the initial class, rather than the 40 the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved for the school in December.

The goal is still to expand one grade at a time. But with 100 students per grade, Johnson hopes to top out at a maximum of 400 students by fall 2012, more than double his original plan.

Johnson has sent state educators an expansion request. He said so far the prospects look good for its passage and he expects BESE to vote on it when it meets in May.

Johnson has John Rice, a veteran public relations representative, as his marketing consultant to help with recruiting for the fall. Rice is already running print and radio advertisements, featuring testimonials from current CSAL students and parents.

One advertisement includes Johnson himself, not as principal, but as parent of two children who attend CSAL.

“I wouldn’t ask you to send your children to our school if I wasn’t willing to send mine,” Johnson said in the ad.

As a charter school, Madison Prep will be a free, public, open enrollment school, but will be run independent of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system. Because it’s a brand new school, it’s different from other charter schools that have been in the news, namely takeover schools. In takeovers, the state seizes control of a low-performing school and gives out charters to private groups to run them instead.

“Many people don’t even know what charter schools are,” Johnson said.

Originally, Johnson planned to go slow, adding a few students to the CSAL campus at 1555 Madison Ave. But as he began to plan, he changed his mind.

He’s already found a bigger building at 2902 Florida Blvd. where he plans to put the high school. It is two blocks west of Baton Rouge General Medical Center and two blocks north of Baton Rouge Magnet High School. Johnson said it can accommodate about 250 students and the property has room to expand.

“It allows us to have a wider array of offerings, including offering some elective classes and distance learning,” Johnson said.