The steering committee of Rocky Mountain Classical Academy is awaiting approval from the School District 49 school board.The new academy would be a D 49 charter school patterned after other charter’s like District 20’s The Classical Academy.Academy committee member Linda Stahnke said the D 49 board must approve or deny the application by mid-December.”We are continuing to plan as if we will get approval,” Stahnke said. “There is an appeal process with the state board of education and we would pursue that appeal (if the application is denied).”RMCA will be a kindergarten through eighth grade charter school that will use classical education methods and core knowledge curriculum, emphasizing character education. The school will limit class sizes to 24 students, with two classes of each grade and rely heavily on parent volunteers and involvement.The steering committee, which is mostly D 49 parents, is looking at options for a location. “Ideally, we hope to find a location between Stetson Hills and Woodmen Hills,” Stahnke said. “We are working on several possibilities at this time.”The committee also is accepting names of prospective students for a January lottery. Although the law requires only half the students come from the home district and adjacent districts, Stahnke believes that a much higher percentage will come from the overcrowded D 49. “The need is obvious … and we have a lot of parents who want the school,” she said. “We understand from The Classical Academy they have 750 students on their waiting list from D 49. The need is definitely there.”Linda Berg, one of RMCA’s founding committee members, has a daughter in kindergarten at D 49’s Ridgeview Elementary School. “I think there is a need because parents want more choices,” Berg said. “We’re pretty limited in this area. We need choices on the type of curriculum … even with them building more schools with the mill levy passing, I think we still need more schools.”Stahnke said residents who agree with the need for RMCA should write a letter to the D 49 school board asking them to approve the application, or they could attend a board meeting to show support for the school.For more information, visit http://www.rmcad49.org.
