Marietta Charter School

CHARTER SCHOOL FUTURE BLEAK; February 11, 2011; Marietta Daily Journal (GA)

ATLANTA - Thursday's non-action by the Georgia Board of Education likely means Marietta Charter School will close when its charter expires June 30.

Marietta Charter School officials had hoped the state board would overturn a Dec. 16 decision by the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, which denied the school's request for a new independent charter that would keep its doors open. But the state board on Thursday elected not to take any action…

Last summer, Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck recommended that the Marietta school board deny renewing the school's charter due to wide-ranging problems with enrollment, finances, student achievement and curriculum. The school, which opened in August 2006, is managed by Imagine Schools of Arlington, Va.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

MARIETTA CHARTER SCHOOL TO GO PRIVATE; April 14, 2011; Marietta Daily Journal (GA) 

MARIETTA — In an unusual move, leaders of Marietta Charter School have announced that the school will stay open next year as a tuition free private school, though under a different name.

The school, which has about 200 students in grades kindergarten through fifth, will be known as Wright Prep Academy as of July 1, principal Christy Tureta said.

The school is managed by Imagine Schools, Inc., a for-profit company based in Arlington, Va., and has operated under a charter from Marietta City Schools since 2006. Imagine Schools Inc. will pay the full, $1.7 million operating cost for the 2011-12 school year, Tureta said.

Last summer, the Marietta school board refused to renew the charter for five more years, based on Su-perintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck’s findings that the school had wide-ranging problems with enrollment, finances, student achievement and curriculum.

Appeals to the state board of education and the state charter schools commission were unsuccessful, and the school was to close as of June 30. But the doors will stay open, Tureta said…

Going private gives the school time to seek a new charter from the Georgia Charter Schools Commission for the 2012-13 school year, Tureta said…