Peoria: Good Vibes and a New School Choice

by Collin Hitt Central Illinois’s newest charter school held an open house last night. I drove up from Springfield to check it out. Called Quest Charter Academy, the school will grow to enroll children in grades 6 through 12.  It’ll focus on math and science, and will mirror the international compass of local businesses like...

by Collin Hitt

Central Illinois’s newest charter school held an open house last night. I drove up from Springfield to check it out. Called Quest Charter Academy, the school will grow to enroll children in grades 6 through 12.  It’ll focus on math and science, and will mirror the international compass of local businesses like Caterpillar, Inc.

Like all charter schools, Quest will be open to any child whose parents sign them up, space permitting. There was a remarkably long waiting list to get into the school – far more students signed up than the school had space for. So students were admitted by lottery, the norm at charter schools across the country.

Most charter schools in Illinois have to hold enrollment lotteries.  Springfield Ball Charter School, for example, is a 450-student school with 400 students on a waiting list. But usually it takes a couple years for a new school to build the positive reputation needed to inspire widespread demand.

Not so in Peoria. The diversity and caliber of the individuals and community organizations who backed the new charter school was impressive.  From the Peoria Journal Star:

The school’s open house took place Thursday evening, moments after the school announced it had reached its fundraising goal that was set in motion by the Caterpillar Foundation.
In December, Caterpillar called for the Peoria Charter School Initiative to raise $500,000 that would be matched dollar-for-dollar by the foundation.
To date, the school has raised $507,266, board Chairman Glen Barton announced, from more than 70 private donors and about 45 businesses such as PNC Bank and the John C. Proctor Endowment.

“It’s an example of the community coming forth, improving the education of these kids,” Barton said. “It reflects on the interest the community has in a charter school and the choice that it provides.”

(photo is from www.sherlockpeoria.net)