St. Philip's Academy Gets OK for Charter School Conversion

St. Philip's Academy, an independent private school in Newark, received the green light earlier this week to convert to a public charter school next school year.

The tuition-free school, which currently serves kindergarten through grade eight students, will open as Philip's Academy Charter School and will enroll roughly 380 students from Newark, East Orange and Irvington. It will be eligible to open, pending final approval by Education Commissioner Chris Cerf, in September 2013.

The school is the first to change into a public charter school, under a new law passed by the Gov. Chris Christie administration last November, allowing high-performing private schools in failing school districts to convert into charter schools.

"Our shift to a charter school enables us to widen our reach to more and more students," said Head of the School Miguel Brito in a press release. "As a charter school, we will have the ability to tailor our innovative curriculum to the needs of our students, plus as a part of the public school system, we will be able to open our school to those parents and children who have long sought a school like ours."

Approval of charter applications for Philip's Academy Charter School, as well as International Academy of Camden Charter School in Camden, was announced last Monday. The two schools join 13 other schools approved in previous application cycles that are currently in a planning year, as well as additional applications to be approved in February 2013, as eligible to open in September 2013.

The schools must first complete a "preparedness review" to ensure they have the academic, operational components and capacity to meet the needs of students. The review, which also takes into account academic programs, financial viability, equitability and organization soundness, will be held in June 2013 with a final approval decision made the following month.

"We are deeply committed to ensuring that every student in New Jersey has access to a high-quality public school that is a good fit for them, and we strongly support charter schools as one public school option for underserved students,” said Cerf in a press release. "By holding a high bar for any new school we approve, we are following through on our commitment to ensuring that we not only provide options for students, but that we provide high-quality options for students."