Toledo Public School board members unanimously approved contracts Monday needed to open Escuela SMART Academy — TPS’ first Spanish language magnet school.
TPS announced its plans to launch the school last Tuesday, during a board of education meeting where officials said the district would essentially take over Toledo SMART Bilingual Elementary — a K-5 charter school in South Toledo — and open its own public school academy in its place.
The academy will be located at Westfield School, at 617 Western Ave., in the heart of the city’s south side, home to a large population of Spanish-speaking families. TPS administrators approved the $300,000 purchase of the Phoenix Academy, located at 1505 Jefferson Ave., to be the new home for current Westfield students.
Along with the approval of contracts for union representation through Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel UAW Local 5242 and the Toledo Federation of Teachers, the board approved hiring a principal for the new magnet school.
SMART Elementary principal Jessica Molina will serve as the principal of Escuela SMART Academy beginning May 13, through July 31, 2020. She will be paid an annual salary of $83,533.
TPS board president Stephanie Eichenberg said the district is hoping to staff the academy with SMART Bilingual faculty.
“We’re very excited, and we believe that much of the staff will come over,” she said. “Her leadership is what helped filled out this school, so we’re thrilled to have her.”
The school is slated to open this fall.
TPS Superintendent Romules Durant said the new school will be a collaborative effort between the district and the charter school. Mr. Durant said TPS has been looking to open a bilingual school, and board members for the charter school learned about this and suggested the two entities work together.
“They were looking for a new facility, a facility that could hold an expansion of their student enrollment,” Mr. Durant said.
Ms. Molina said that charter schools and traditional public schools are typically penned as “adversaries” however through the new academy, both districts hope to bridge the gap.
“I really think we’re paving the way for charter schools and traditional public schools to recognize what kind of collaborations they can have to better serve students.”
Starting as a grassroots movement, SMART Bilingual opened as a K-2 elementary school only serving 30 students and has since grown its enrollment to 207. Ms. Molina said the school increased its enrollment “responsibly” while only annually adding a grade. The charter school’s desire to annually expand will continue as Escuela SMART will serve K-6.
District records state Escuela SMART Academy will be open to all Spanish-speaking, English-learning students, as well as English-speaking students interested in acquiring or improving Spanish-speaking skills. The academy will be a magnet school, meaning students who live outside TPS district boundaries will be eligible to attend, Mr. Durant said.
Ms. Molina said SMART elementary fosters both proficiency in English and Spanish — providing resources and support for English-language learning students. She said traditionally students who speak English as a second language are steered from regularly using Spanish in the classroom.
“...they try to get rid of it so students can learn English, but we actually see that Spanish plays a really important role in students learning the academics.” She added that if a student can learn math in their native language “they’re actually going to understand it better conceptually”.
First Published April 30, 2019, 12:01 a.m.
