Charter
How can I read PAPA’s charter?
PAPA Charter renewal – January 2005 (This is a large pdf file of 145 KB, requiring the Adobe Acrobat Reader to access, and may take a few moments to appear on your screen.)
Submitted by the Governing Council in July, 2002, to the APS Board of Education, for a detailed description of PAPA’s unique vision and mission.
Charter Schools are a wonderful alternative to the traditional public school. Though charters schools are public, they are governed by their own councils which allow them the freedom to shape the focus of the school. They are required to follow the New Mexico guidelines for charter schools and comply with all applicable state laws and regulations governing public schools.
The Public Academy for Performing Arts is chartered by the Albuquerque Public School (APS) Board of Education and the New Mexico Public Education Department.
Recently we were named one of the top five charter schools in New Mexico. Our parents, students, and teachers have had many great things to say about our school over the years.
What is a charter school?
According to uscharterschools.org (an online learning community to serve and support charter schools):
“Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools of choice that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. The “charter” establishing each such school is a performance contract detailing the school’s mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. The length of time for which charters are granted varies, but most are granted for 3-5 years. At the end of the term, the entity granting the charter may renew the school’s contract. Charter schools are accountable to their sponsor– usually a state or local school board– to produce positive academic results and adhere to the charter contract. The basic concept of charter schools is that they exercise increased autonomy in return for this accountability. They are accountable for both academic results and fiscal practices to several groups: the sponsor that grants them, the parents who choose them, and the public that funds them.”
What is the duration of PAPA’s charter?
PAPA was granted a 5-year charter by Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) for the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 school years. At the end of this period, PAPA will submit an application for renewal of our charter.
Have there been changes to PAPA’s charter?
On May 28, 2002, the Governing Council approved a task force to work on drafting a charter amendment application. That task force met during subsequent weeks to review the charter and identify areas that required amending.
The proposed amendments are designed to eliminate some of the excessive detail in the original charter to allow more flexibility within a range of non-negotiable parameters, and to align with PAPA policies, procedures and practices that have been adopted or have otherwise proved to be workable over the course of PAPA’s first school year. None of the amendments materially amend key charter elements such as the Mission and Vision of the school, or the basic educational program incorporating Individual Learning Plans (ILP’s) and an integrated, thematic curriculum.
The task force publicized the process through both hard copy mailings and e-mails to parents, teachers, staff and interested community members and via this web site. They also made the proposed amendments available for public comment as follows:
* in pdf format here at this website
PAPA’s Founders were also specifically invited to comment on the proposed amendments.