PORTLAND — The director of a proposed charter school in Maine’s largest city has no students, but he does have a theme: science, technology, engineering and math. STEM, for short.

On Tuesday, John Jaques also announced that he has a partnership with Google to provide laptop computers using the company’s cloud-based operating system to all incoming students in the 2012-13 school year.

Of course, Jaques isn’t certain the state will grant a charter to his Baxter Academy for Technology and Science in time to enroll 160 freshmen and sophomores and hire 10 to 12 full-time teachers for the fall semester, but he is planning for it. In December, he reached an agreement to lease space at 54 York St. next to Rufus Deering Lumber Co.

Last summer, Maine became the 41st state in the country to allow public charter schools, and last month the seven newly appointed members of the State Charter School Commission held their first meeting.

Charter schools receive public money, but are allowed to forgo some rules and regulations that apply to other public schools in exchange for meeting certain goals outlined in a charter that must be approved by the state commission.

On its website, the Baxter Academy for Technology and Science says it will be “a rigorous, college-preparatory high school promoting student ownership of learning through curriculum focused specifically on science, technology, engineering and math.”

Advertisement

The new law allows the commission to approve up to 10 schools over the next decade. David Connerty-Marin, spokesman for the state Department of Education, said he is aware of only two – Baxter in Portland and the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences in Hinckley – that are planning to be up and running this fall.

“The commission is certainly interested in moving quickly, and we know Baxter is interested in moving quickly,” Connerty-Marin said. “Legislation was passed with the intention of getting schools operational.”

Jaques earned a master’s degree in instructional technology from the University of Maine and a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Maryland.

He visited Google headquarters in California last week and came away impressed with the company’s plans for education, including the Samsung 3G Chromebooks that run Google’s Chrome operating system. They feature wireless data service from the Verizon cellular network to allow Internet access to students without a home Wi-Fi connection.

The Baxter school curriculum would be able to use Google sharing platforms to collaborate with other charter schools.

“This is something that’s new for Google,” Jaques said. “To get in on the ground floor has some advantages for our kids. If we’re going to be the largest deployment of Chromebooks in New England, we would be able to host the regional training that Google plans on doing in New England around the Chromebook.

Advertisement

“That would bring technology people from Massachusetts and Vermont and New Hampshire up to Portland to participate in these trainings, and that’s an attractive feature for us as well. We’re looking to be a model school for Google.”

Although Baxter’s STEM theme is meant to attract students with strong interests in math and science, there are no entrance requirements.

If Jaques receives more applicants than the school has openings, a blind lottery would largely determine which students are accepted. Local school districts – and Jaques is targeting students within a 25-mile radius of Portland – with more than 500 students can send no more than 10 percent of their student body to a charter school.

Those with fewer than 500 students can send no more than 5 percent of their school population.

Local, state and federal funds based on a school district’s average per-student cost would pay for much of the charter school’s operating expenses.

“So there’s no cost to parents,” Jaques said.

Advertisement

Ken Nye, a retired professor of educational leadership at the University of Southern Maine and a former principal of Yarmouth High School, said if he were 15 years younger (he is 69), he’d probably be starting a charter school himself.

He also understands concerns about draining money from local school districts, and perhaps even losing staff.

“You could lose your best teachers,” Nye said. “Oftentimes, it’s the best teachers who are looking for different ways to reach kids and see the charter schools as a wonderful way to do that.”

 

Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at: gjordan@pressherald.com

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.