What would your answer be to the question: What do you want in a school? Do you want a charter school, public school, enrichment programs, sports, or more?

Coal Creek Canyon K-8 (CCCK- 8) School in Jefferson County School District is closing and now the question is, what will happen to the building? As you may have heard through Facebook or messaging, a meeting was held at the Community Hall to discuss what will happen to our school. Three representatives came to share what each of their schools had to offer. Both parents of public schools students and homeschooled students came to the meeting.

There are currently five charter schools that would be interested in utilizing the school building. The three schools at the meeting were Woodrow Wilson Academy (WWA), Jefferson Academy (JA), and Sojournings Academy (SOJA).

WWA was represented by Carole Bartusiak, principal of WWA. This is a K-8 Jefferson County Public School with an additional program for homeschoolers. The curriculum for this school is core knowledge-based. The current school is located in Westminster.

JA is also a Jefferson County School, represented by Tim Matlick, the executive director of JA. This charter school has classes for K-12 students. JA’s curriculum is also core knowledge-based. There are four different sites for the JA schools, each a little different depending on the community.

Finally, SOJA is a forest school introduced by Courtney Liu, the director of the school. This school has programs for kindergarten through third grade. SOJA focuses more on skills for their curriculum and is faith-based.

The main consensus is that a school is wanted in the community. Tami Lawson, a parent with kids currently enrolled in CCCK-8, said that a program similar to the current public school would be preferred, but she would also be open to any of the options.

A second parent, Lena Benish, a middle school teacher and coach at CCCK-8, would be open to a variety of different models and curriculum. She also thinks that having both home school and charter school options would bring the community closer together and help strengthen the school community.

Additionally, enrichment programs would be welcomed by homeschool families. Heather Dillard, a local homeschool parent, would be interested in high school enrichment programs. She hopes for a school that will keep families in the canyon as well as invite others to the community.

The idea that a school in the canyon open to both public and homeschooled students was seen as an excellent opportunity. This idea was seen as an excellent opportunity for everyone to grow closer as a community. Regardless, when choosing a program for the school building both the representatives and the community members want something to benefit the community as a whole.

An interview with Matlick revealed the reality that there are “deal breakers” to this opportunity. For example, Jefferson County School District requires a longterm lease and enough students enrolled to provide a sustainable school in the area. Beyond that, however, the priority of the school representatives was to discuss and learn what school or combination of schools would meet the needs of the families and the community.

We wish the schools the best of luck and look forward to what happens next..

More information about the listed schools can be found on their websites; Woodrow Wilson Academy (wwacademy.org), Jefferson Academy Charter School (jajags.com), and Sojournings Academy (sojourningsacademy.com).