Charter School could become reality for Corolla

A recent article from the VA Pilot's Jeff Hampton:

Nonprofit to apply to open charter school in Corolla

By Jeff Hampton
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 11, 2011
COROLLA

By next fall, Corolla could open the first school on the isolated Currituck Outer Banks in more than 50 years.

The Corolla Education Foundation plans in November to apply for a charter school fast-track approval that would allow organizers to get trained and open the doors by September 2012, said Meghan Agresto, a parent and one of the founders of the nonprofit.

Corolla parents have been trying to open a school there for years. This summer, the North Carolina General Assembly opened the way by lifting the cap of 100 charter schools in the state.

Corolla would have fewer than 30 students, fewer than typically allowed for charter schools, but state officials could approve Corolla's request based on its isolation. Currituck County school officials support the plan, Agresto said.

A few Corolla students catch a bus before dawn under the flash of the Currituck lighthouse and ride for two hours or more to attend Currituck mainland schools. They arrive home after dark. Some parents drive their children to either Dare County or Currituck County schools.

The Corolla school would get approximately $8,000 per student from the state and county. An exact count of how many would attend is still uncertain, Agresto said.

"I've had people from Duck say they would come," she said.

The Corolla school would open a single small building and hold courses in core subjects with an emphasis on environmental sciences, including studies and field trips to nearby freshwater marshes, maritime forests and to see the wild horses.

Corolla's last small school closed in 1957 after the student population dropped following World War II.