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Charter school to open in Phoenix By Vicki Guarino Jackson County�s first state-sanctioned charter high school is getting set to open this fall in Phoenix. Many months in the making, the Armadillo Technical Institute will focus on home-schooled students and dropouts � two groups of students that organizers and school officials say aren�t being served by the public school system. "There is definitely a need for options within the existing education system,�� says Kathie Zodrow, Ashland, one of the Armadillo�s coordinators and teachers. Phoenix-Talent School District officials have been working with Armadillo organizers, agreeing that more public school alternatives are needed. District officials are expected to sign Armadillo�s charter � a contract with the district � in a few days, qualifying the new school for a $100,000 implementation grant from the state. Armadillo is the first school in the county to organize under 1999 legislation that for the first time gives state recognition to charter schools. The legislation is intended to give families more choices within the public school system. Armadillo coordinators have scheduled orientation sessions this summer for potential students, parents and the public. The sessions will begin at 7 p.m. July 18 and Aug. 10 at the school, the Baptist Church at the corner of First and Rose streets, Phoenix. Families of potential charter school students (in seventh through 12th grades) as well as interested members of the community are invited. Coordinators also are looking for mentors, adults in the community, who could assist students in community service projects with the school. "We�re getting to the point now where we�re really starting to push enrollment," says Armadillo coordinator Mike Warner, who has been the lead teacher at Lithia Springs School, an Ashland School District program for students under state juvenile court supervision. The Armadillo school is purchasing the Baptist Church at the corner of First and Rose streets, near Phoenix Elementary School. The proximity to the public school will give Armadillo students access to school bus service. Charter schools are public schools that are given some latitude in their programs and curriculum. The Armadillo program will emphasize student projects, independent studies and community service, while covering all the curriculum and testing required of public schools, says Zodrow. Most important, students will receive individualized attention from a large number of adults in the program � teachers, staff, mentors and parent volunteers. Armadillo will serve students in seventh through 12th grades who come either by referral from school counselors or by the student and family�s own initiative. The school may serve students living outside the Phoenix-Talent district but will give enrollment preference to students living within district boundaries. The program will rely heavily on technology � computers and video production � to cater to a learning style that favors hands-on projects over reading and listening. ��The traditional classroom benefits a particular learning style,�� Zodrow says. "But some students learning through touching, doing. They are really lost in the classroom setting.�� Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA