Schools

Permit Issued for Charter Schools USA Site at Winthrop; Opening Scheduled for the 2011-12 School Year

Winthrop Town Founder John Sullivan reported Feb. 17 the approval of a permit to start construction on an 840-student charter school planned to open in time for the new school year.

An 840-student charter school for grades kindergarten through grade 8 is slated to open at Winthrop in time for the new school year, according to Winthrop Town Founder John Sullivan.

A site permit for the 50,000- square-foot building was approved by Hillsborough County Planning and Growth Management on Feb. 17, Sullivan said.

"The school has been initiated by Charter Schools USA," he added, noting that a groundbreaking is planned for the first week in March. The building will comprise a 2.25-acre campus, south of the Winthrop Town Centre's Publix anchor.

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While in the Greater Brandon area, with a Riverview address, the school, like any school charted by the Hillsborough County School District, would open to students throughout the county.

School District spokesperson Linda Cobbe confirmed the Charter Schools USA application that calls for a curriculum focus based on the work of Robert Marzano, author of "Classroom Instruction That Works," and Howard Gardner, author of "The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach" and "Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice."

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A charter school follows state and school district requirements for such things as conduct, assessment, teaching and instruction. A summary of the school's charter application is online, as item 7.11 of the School Board's Dec. 8, 2009 meeting.

Information meetings for proposed students and parents are expected in the months ahead.


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