Three Locations Considered for College Park Charter School

Three possible locations have been identified for a proposed charter school in College Park.

Frank Brewer, vice chairman of the College Park City-University Partnership, which is applying to establish the school, said he envisions it housed at the former Calvert Road School, the empty 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant on Paint Branch Parkway, or a structure at 4700 Berwyn House Road.

However, the partnership does not have to provide a list of proposed locations on its application, which it will provide to the Prince George's County Board of Education at the end of February, Brewer said.

The College Park Academy Public Charter School evolves from the mission to turn College Park into a top tier college city. Representatives from the University of Maryland, City of College Park, Prince George's County and Maryland are working to create a community development strategy for College Park.

State Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Dist. 21) said he is confident the charter school will become reality, because the partnership has been working with the school system throughout the planning process.

City councilmembers voiced their support for the school at Tuesday's Mayor and Council work session.

"This will be amazing for our community," Councilman Marcus Afzali (Dist. 4) said.

If all goes according to plan, the academy would open in fall 2013, and eventually reach a maximum enrollment of 600 Prince George's County students in seventh through 12th grades.

Students would have the opportunity to accrue up to 60 college credits. Thirty-five of them could be traditional advanced placement credits, while 25 of them could be through sitting in on University of Maryland classes and labs, though details are still being worked out, Rosapepe said.

The academy will not offer athletics or a wide selection of extracurricular activities, Brewer said, though he's hopeful that students could participate with the teams and clubs of other area high schools. Transportation will not be provided by the academy either, Brewer said.

"This is not quite the same kind of high school as other high schools ... It’s not a school for everybody and I don’t think we ought to try to make it something that works for everybody," Brewer said.

Editor's Note: This story has been corrected. A previous version incorrectly stated to which board of education the application will be sent. One of the possible locations was also innacruately described. We regret the errors.