BY ANDY TAYLOR
Montgomery County Chronicle

CANEY — A major grant from the Kansas Department of Education will allow USD 436 to literally “think outside the box” next school year.
The state education department has awarded USD 436 with a $450,000 grant to develop a charter school — to be formally called the Caney Valley Virtual Charter Academy — targeting two distinct segments at the high school level: low-achieving students with few career aims and high-achieving students who seem unchallenged to continue their studies in high school.

“These two segments of the student body pose the greatest risk of, in the case of the low-achieving students, dropping out of school entirely and never returning or, in the case of the hig-achieving student, leaving school a full semester before graduation,” said Ron Oyler, assistant principal at Caney Valley Jr.-Sr. High School. “The goal of the charter school is to provide an individual plan for each student that focuses on his or her career path. The curriculum will be centered around that career, thereby giving the student a chance to receive professional career skills for post-graduation opportunities.”

So, what will USD 436 patrons see in the charter school that is different from the conventional high school setting? Caney Valley Jr.-Sr. High School currently instructs students — with broad-based courses covering math, language arts, sciences, fine arts, vocational skills and humanities — who are guided by the goals and outcomes set by the Kansas Board of Education.

The charter school will still adhere to the standards set by the state board of education (and also require students to graduate with 24 credits). However, the charter school curriculum will be targeted toward a specific career area.

For example, if a student wishes to pursue a career in the construction industry, the charter school will develop a curriculum that gives real-world applications in math, language arts and sciences centered around construction. That student could see math equations involving ratios, fractions and basic geometry — math skills that are prominent in the construction industry.

And, instead of taking an English course that focuses on literary comprehension, such as reading Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” or Mark Twain’s “Tom Sawyer,” the student will take an English course involving technical writing developed for the construction industry.

Science courses may focus on the physical properties of construction materials, such as wood, concrete and metal.

Oyler said the charter school will seek to meet two aims: to provide real-world instruction for students who find little relevance in the conventional classroom setting and to also provide qualified and skilled candidates for employers in the Caney area.

Oyler said surveys of area business owners have revealed a need to have stronger-qualified graduates from Caney Valley Jr.-Sr. High School. While the school does have a high number of students who attend college after high school, a number of graduates take the leap from high school to the local job market with little application of real-world skills under their belt, he said.

The charter school will also use a variety of technologies to educate the students, said Oyler. It may be common to see charter school students receiving instruction through online courses, through job shadowing with local employers, or even through text messages on a cellular telephone.

At the center of each charter school student will be a skills portfolio that will be individually designed to represent the uniqueness of each student. The portfolio will highlight the degree of knowledge acquired by the student and show the project-based learning activities. Students will be able to discuss those projects — what they learned, how they learned it, what they gained from the experience — with teachers and prospective employers.

The charter school will be open to 20 students when the 2009-10 school year begins next August. Oyler will serve as the principal of the charter school while Travis Potter and Tasha Long will serve as site coordinators.

The Kansas Department of Education says there are only 36 charter schools in Kansas — each with a unique aim and interest. In southeast Kansas, charter schools are found in the Parsons, Oswego, Galena, Humboldt, and Erie school districts.

Because the Kansas Department of Education has allowed USD 436 to have a charter school, the charter school itself will be set apart as a separate entity from Caney Valley Jr.-Sr. High School.