Rowlett Academy opens 2014-15 year as conversion charter in Manatee County

Aug. 31--BRADENTON -- Fifteen years ago, Brian Flynn opened Rowlett Magnet Elementary School for the first time. He did so again two weeks ago, but this year is different.

The school, which looks and feels the same since as last year, is Manatee County School District's newest conversion charter, now called the Rowlett Academy for Arts and Communication.

Rowlett is the first conversion charter school for Manatee County and the first conversion charter in the state of Florida in the past eight years, so the school is stepping into somewhat-unchartered waters.

Overall, the experience for students hasn't really changed.

But for the teachers, staff and parents, being a conversion charter means fiscal independence, freedom from district instability or initiatives, a chance to focus on

their own practices and to retain the programs that parents and teachers love most about the school.

The year ahead will offer an opportunity for the community and other schools to evaluate the conversion experience and decide whether it's a viable option locally.

"The students, they wouldn't really notice," Flynn said of the changes, which allowed him to bring back programs which were cut under the district's financial direction in the past academic year and which allows him more control over the state money he receives for each of the school's 900 students. "But we brought back a lot of things we had to eliminate last year."

The decision to move to a charter school was prompted by the district's poor fiscal situation and directives made by the new administration, which included cutbacks to staff and programs and taking money from the schools' internal funds to make up the district's shortfall.

"If we had continued the way we were, the magnet school had a very good chance of dissolving," Flynn said. "It was clear to us we had to find another way to do what we do."

The solution: becoming a charter.

Rowlett is the state's only conversion charter school in about eight years, Flynn said. Not every conversion charter school has succeeded. A charter school is accountable to the school district to be financially solvent and to maintain the same levels of achievement as other schools.

"We have no concerns about not being successful," Flynn said.

Rowlett has consistently been a top performer in the district earning As and Bs from the state since 2008.

As a conversion charter -- as opposed to a start-up charter -- Rowlett stayed in the district-owned building, kept all the materials and supplies that were in the school and contracts with the district for transportation and food services (although Flynn said plans are already in the works to do that on its own in the future).

The school takes on payroll, health insurance and other costs associated with running the school. The difference, Flynn says, is the school is smaller and can spend the extra dollars as the charter school sees fit.

Walking through a dark, empty hallway on Thursday, Flynn cracked a joke about some of the additional expenses the school has taken on since converting.

"Now that we pay our own electric bill, we keep some areas dark when they're not being used," he said, with a laugh.

Rowlett was the only charter approved by the Manatee County School Board last year, of three applicants. The board will consider five charters later this month, but none of them are conversion charters, in which an existing public school transforms into a charter.

Flynn has 21 new staffers in his school this year. He fully reinstated the Spanish-language program, brought the after-school enrichment program up to speed, hired more aides, custodians and a dedicated media specialist. Under the district's control, Flynn had to do more with less, and he had multiple staff members doing more than one job. And while the district schools are still hiring positions for the new academic year, Flynn was able to fill all his open positions in June, giving his staff the full summer to get ready.

The school focuses on different areas of the arts and on the Spanish language, Flynn said. The school handles "specials" differently than most. In most schools, specials rotate on a five-day cycle, so students will have art or technology or music classes once a week. Rowlett works in a blocked process, where students will attend the same special every day for two weeks.

This allows for more advanced work in a short period, helps teachers and students keep schedules straight and allows students to get engrossed into a project, Flynn said.

When it comes to language, the constant interaction brings the Rowlett students heads and shoulders above their peers, the language teachers said.

"We see such a huge growth in the students," said Raquel Ray. "It gives them the confidence to speak and want to learn other languages."

The Spanish program not only helps native English speakers but it can help native Spanish speakers to learn their own language correctly and to learn English, said teacher Mercedez Wilson.

In a global marketplace, having mastery of a second language is a marketable skill, and starting that skill at a young age is key, the teachers said.

"When they know languages, they're ahead of so many things," said Wanda Oquendo, one of the teachers.

Without moving to a charter, Flynn said Rowlett wouldn't be able to provide the Spanish program.

The process to convert a traditional school into a charter school is a little different and requires a majority approval by teachers and by the community before the application can move forward. Teachers supported the move with a 94 percent vote and the parents supported the move with a 95 percent vote.

One of those parents was Karla Cameron. Her daughter, Katy, attended the school from kindergarten to fifth grade and her son, Carson, is in the fifth-grade this year. Cameron said there's a "special community" at Rowlett.

"You don't get it until you've been here," she said.

Cameron said she supported the conversion to a charter so the school could keep its programs. On Thursday, Cameron joined her son for lunch, then planned to head into his classroom to volunteer.

Amy Holland, a fifth-grade teacher in her first year at Rowlett, said the leadership at the school drew her in. Compared with other schools she's worked at in Manatee County, the leadership and staff at Rowlett is "like no other." Staff members and even volunteers are trained in the seven habits of highly effective people, she said.

"We all live it, breathe it and own it," Holland said.

For students, the beginning of school was business as usual. Over a lunch of hot dogs, milk and some fruit and vegetables, fifth-grade students Evelina Khayvullina and Sofia Figueras said they were ready for the year. Khayvullina has attended Rowlett since kindergarten, but this year was the first year for Figueras. She wanted to attend last year, but the school didn't have the space. Figueras said she likes to dance, something offered at Rowlett. "They didn't have that at my old school," she said.

The best part of the school that students always get to be creative, Khayvullina said.

"It's very fun," she said. "We're always doing something creative."

Meghin Delaney, education reporter can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

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