College Park Academy, a charter school in Hyattsville, offers an individualized curriculum that lets students earn up to 60 college credits online.
For College Park children between 3 and 5 years old, there’s the education college’s Center for Young Children. For middle schoolers, there’s College Park Academy. And soon, the city hopes to offer this innovative, project-based learning style for elementary school-level children as well.
The City Council unanimously voted to send a letter to Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s), College Park City-University Partnership chairman, expressing support for collaboration between the university and city to launch a new contract program in public elementary schools.
The program would implement the “experiential, collaborative, UMD-infused” education models that have made the CYC and CPA so successful, District 2 Councilman P. J. Brennan said.
CPA students scored well above the state and county average on their Maryland School Assessment tests last year, according to The Baltimore Sun. The CYC is a nationally accredited school with the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which recognizes outstanding early childhood programs.
“A lot of young and upcoming families throughout the community are looking for options for elementary school that break the mold,” Brennan said. “This introduces the project-oriented, collaborative environment that helps kids think differently, which is phenomenal.”
The program could be implemented into existing public schools either part-time or full-day, depending on what the school wanted, District 3 councilman Eric Olson said. Olson said he hopes the program can be launched in one or more schools by fall 2015.
“We want to make this available, but how it’s offered is going to be up to the schools, principals and PTAs,” Olson said.
The education model would focus on providing first-hand experiences like field trips, guest speakers and Internet research instead of rote memorization, according to the proposal.
As in the CYC, university involvement would include program development and research, while students in the education college would be afforded student-teaching opportunities.
“I support both the opportunity for UMD students to interact more with [the] community and get professional experience, as well as an opportunity to develop a great school that will attract families to College Park,” said Cole Holocker, student liaison to the City Council.
This proposal is part of CPCUP’s goal to improve pre-K through 12th grade education by 2020, in an effort to increase the number of long-term residents in College Park.
“There a perception that our schools are lacking but it’s not so much that our schools are lacking as it is a perception issue,” Brennan said. “Reinvigorating the discussion around education and this new format will bring parents that are naive about what’s out there to the table.”
