Saturday, August 18, 2012
After being rejected by the Parkland School District, the proposed Circle of Seasons charter school wanted to open on the former Penn State campus in Fogelsville.
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Saturday, August 18, 2012
The Northwestern Lehigh School board rejected a motion this week that would have allowed the proposed Circle of Seasons charter school to open on the former Fogelsville campus of Penn State University, according to a report in The Morning Call. The Parkland School District denied a similar request in February, citing the charter school would not meet state standards. That is also the reason the Northwestern Lehigh School board denied the request, according to the report. Phil Arnold, who proposed the charter school, said he would continue to pursue the application. Charter schools are largely operated with state and local taxpayer money, funneled through the school districts where they are located.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Founder describes Parkland School Board's denial as a "speed bump" as he seeks to establish Circle of Seasons charter school in South Whitehall or Upper Macungie.
Phil Arnold sent a reassuring email to supporters of his proposed Circle of Seasons charter school late Tuesday night, saying that the Parkland School District's denial of the charter school application was "not necessarily unexpected." He said he planned to persevere, describing the denial as a "speed bump" in the process of the charter school becoming a reality. "School boards typically are not receptive to charter schools and therefore will find ways to deny a charter application," wrote Arnold, a social worker who helped establish Seven Generations charter school in Emmaus. "If anything, sometimes their primary goal is simply to make everyone jump through additional hoops in order to get the charter approved or at the very least delay …
40.60568
-75.545313
Parkland School District Administration Center
1210 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
/articles/phil-arnold-reassures-supporters-of-charter-school
1793534
/locations/6481587
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
School board president says proposed Circle of Seasons Charter School would not meet state standards.
The Parkland School Board denied an application Tuesday night for Circle of Seasons, a proposed Waldorf-method charter school. Board members did not discuss the application prior to the vote, but the district issued a 65-page resolution in support of their decision. “I cannot ask the taxpayers to fund something that does not meet state standards,” school board President Jayne Bartlett said after the meeting. Bartlett said the proposal was “ambiguous” about the grade levels that the school would include, its curriculum wouldn’t meet state standards and its administrative staffing would be inadequate. She also said that proponents of the charter school had not pinned down a location yet for the school. Phil Arnold, who proposed the charter …
40.60568
-75.545313
Parkland School District Administration Center
1210 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
/articles/parkland-denies-charter-school-application
1793534
/locations/6478820
Circle of Seasons would open in Fogelsville or South Whitehall in fall 2012, if approved by the Parkland School Board.
The Parkland School Board is expected to vote tonight, Feb. 28, on whether to allow the Circle of Seasons charter school to open within the district's borders. Phil Arnold, who helped establish the Seven Generations Charter School in Emmaus, made his pitch to the school board in December for a new, Waldorf-method charter school to be opened within the district. At the hearing, district administrators extensively questioned Arnold, Waldorf teacher/consultant Eugene Schwartz and another representative about the proposed school's curriculum, finances, building and special education plans and academic calendar, among other items. Arnold has said that he wants to launch in September 2012 with kindergarten, first and second grades, but that he …
40.60568
-75.545313
Parkland School District Administration Center
1210 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
/articles/parkland-to-vote-tonight-on-charter-school-proposal
1793534
/locations/6466829
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Circle of Seasons would open in fall 2012, possibly in Fogelsville, if approved by the Parkland School Board.
Phil Arnold, who helped establish the Seven Generations Charter School in Emmaus, made his pitch Tuesday night for a new, Waldorf-method charter school to be opened within the Parkland School District next year, but possibly in Fogelsville instead of South Whitehall. Arnold said Circle of Seasons is in negotiations to buy the former Penn State building in Fogelsville, should the Parkland School Board approve its application, since the building would be move-in ready and allow for a fall 2012 opening. He said Circle of Seasons also would proceed with constructing or renovating a building at the Manito Equestrian Center in South Whitehall, where it would have a second location. Arnold told the board at a hearing Tuesday that it's always …
40.60568
-75.545313
Parkland School District Administration Center
1210 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
/articles/parkland-board-airs-proposal-for-waldorf
1793534
/locations/6048066
Friday, November 18, 2011
A public hearing on the proposed Waldorf Charter School in Parkland School District is set for Dec. 20.
Plans for a proposed "Circle of Seasons" Waldorf-method charter school in South Whitehall were submitted to the Parkland School District on Nov. 8 and a public hearing is set for Dec. 20. Phil Arnold, a social worker with Lehigh Valley Hospital’s Pediatric Center in Bethlehem and former administrator at Seven Generations Charter School in Emmaus, wants to establish and operate the school on the grounds of the 60-acre Manito Farm and Equestrian Center in South Whitehall. Arnold, who made the hearing date public in a release, was not immediately available for comment. District spokeswoman Nicole McGalla had confirmed the hearing would be scheduled sometime in December. If adopted by the board, the charter school would be the first charter …
40.62619
-75.53663
Manito Equestrian Center
2160 N Cedar Crest Blvd, Allentown, PA
/articles/plans-submitted-for-a-waldorf-school-in-parkland
1634793
/locations/6042932
careless fills
8:57 pm on Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The cost of a charter school is only about 80% of a conventional public school. A child's public school gets to keep about 20% of the per capita money to cover their stranded costs. For a growing school district like PSD, this is a great deal, since no one needs to be laid off as there are plenty of students coming in to take the place of those who leave. Likewise, the charter relieves the … more ›