TACOMA — They like the food. They like the start time of 8:35 a.m. — about an hour later than many public high schools.
But what kids at Tacoma’s first charter high school seem to like most is the self-determination they’re given at Summit Olympus High School, which opened last Monday with 125 ninth-graders inside an old pickle-packing plant. (Grades 10 through 12 will be added in subsequent years.)
“You get a lot of freedom, compared to other schools,” said Julian Sams of Puyallup, who moved here from Fort Campbell, Ky., where he attended schools operated by the Department of Defense. “At other schools, it’s ‘do this, do this, do this.’ Here, you have more choice.”
Classmate Lillian Thompson, a University Place student who attended Curtis Junior High last year, said her new high school’s self-paced learning “will teach us independence.” And that, she says, will make her better prepared for college.
Summit Olympus is one of three charter schools opening this year in Tacoma.
SOAR Academy for elementary-age kids also opened to students last week. Destiny Charter Middle School held orientation for students last week, with the first full school day to be today.
Tacoma has more charter schools opening this year than any other city in Washington. The publicly funded, privately operated schools were made possible by a state initiative approved by voters in 2012.
Here’s what self-paced learning looked like at Summit Olympus on Thursday:
Math teacher David Dolata moved through his classroom helping students sign in to the correct assignment on their laptop computers. Every student gets one of the Internet-connective devices to use. The laptops will play an integral role in their learning.
“Close your computer at half-mast (with the lid partly open) when you’ve got it,” he tells the class, creating an instant visual that tells him which students are ready to proceed and who needs an extra assist.
He explains some of the upcoming projects students will do: infographics, stock market analyses and population studies. Final projects are a written paper or multimedia production.
“Nowhere does it say ‘Take notes for 45 minutes on the quadratic equation,”‘ Dolata tells students.
