S.O.S.- Save Our Schools

Anxiety doesn’t begin to describe how I felt as I sat on the front row of a small classroom waiting for the tests to be handed back. I do not envy anyone who has had a similar experience. My linear algebra professor was handing the results from our class’ most recent exam. As I received my test I was engulfed in a flood of relief. The pages of the test were filled with quickly scrawled matrices of numbers and intricate proofs of theorems. I had made it through yet another college exam! The lecture began and I was quickly inundated with new concepts. After several other classes I made my way back to the high school to join a class with people my age. I was only fifteen when I started my first semester as a full-time college student. I am a college freshman and a high school junior.

I attend a small charter school in Southern Utah called The Southern Utah Center for Computing Engineering and Science Students; more commonly referred to as SUCCESS Academy. My school partners with Southern Utah University and enables its students to participate in a rigorous college learning environment while receiving high school credit for their work. In a mission to prepare students to enter the competitive workforce and give back to their community, the charter school initiative was born. Recently in Utah, funding has been allocated to the charters schools for a few upcoming years but finding the financial means to continue the school remains a never-ending struggle. Because the charter schools in Utah have been so successful, more charter schools should be initiated and more funding should be given to existing charter schools in the future.

New ideas for education reform such as charter schools offer the opportunity to rescue students from the flaws of a traditional high school education and expand each student’s potential by providing several different advantages.

Utah charter schools are released from many of the restrictive regulations that hinder traditional schools. Instead of only using state mandated curriculum, “Students may choose to attend charter schools that focus on a specific style of learning and/or curriculum,” (Comparison,1). By allowing emphasis in a specific area of learning, charter schools make students more competitive in that particular field.

The school I attend focuses on engineering, computers, and science. Most of the students who attend will practice a related field. Many of my fellow students will be going into the medicine, engineering, or computer fields. By allowing students to take college classes in high school, SUCCESS Academy has given these students a boost in completing the years of extra education that is required in these challenging fields. Other students pursue paths not emphasized by the academy but my charter school offers advantages to all of its students regardless of their occupational goals. SUCCESS Academy furnishes them with the general education they require and helps them find ways to accentuate their area of interest.