{"id":8096,"date":"2014-04-07T07:50:49","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T11:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/?p=8096"},"modified":"2014-04-07T08:03:15","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T12:03:15","slug":"vision-quest-community-school-rochester-ny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/2014\/04\/vision-quest-community-school-rochester-ny\/","title":{"rendered":"Vision Quest Community School may provide an answer to charters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>
\nA group of concerned parents and teachers from the Rochester City School District is seeking to open a new kind of elementary school. Their idea is to build on the success of School Of The Arts (SOTA) by offering a similar interdisciplinary curriculum in the K\u20136 grade levels; a curriculum that is “rich in creative expression” and with a greater focus on the individual child.<\/p>\n

Their proposal is being called Vision Quest Community School and the group will make a presentation to Superintendent Vargas on April 21…<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
\nYou’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t feel that our city schools are failing us. Charter schools may be one answer. A recent RBJ article \"external<\/a> reports that last year four out of five New York charter schools outperformed the district schools where they were located.<\/p>\n

The downside is that charter schools are somewhat exclusive. Lack of special education services discourage special-education enrollment. And lack of transportation will often filter out the lowest-income families.<\/p>\n

Stacie Colaprete of the Susan B. Anthony neighborhood says she trucks her 6-year-old son all the way to School 52 \"external<\/a> from the west side of the city. “It was the best I could do for him after not getting into Genesee Community Charter or World of Inquiry \"external<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Colaprete has been involved with the planning of the new Vision Quest school and would like to see it to open it in the southwest quadrant.\u00a0“We are lacking options in our area,” she says, “especially with all of the talk of school closings and the renovations that sent our neighborhood kids to Freddy Thomas.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
\nAccording to the draft proposal (PDF)<\/a>, Vision Quest will offer children “the space, freedom, and time to be creative in their learning.” <\/p>\n