Ashley Cherri is a busy mom of five. She considered every option when determining where to send two of her kids to school.
They started out at a private school, but when she heard about Seven Oaks, she wanted to learn more. She liked what she read and thought Seven Oaks could be a place where her children would thrive.
"Just for my children, you have to I think evaluate each child in a child to child basis," Cherri says. "I think for my children it will probably be a big benefit to have."
She was drawn to the "back to basics" approach the school says it will take, using a phonics-based reading program and teaching Latin.
Charter schools are public schools that use taxpayer dollars. They are tuition free and have open enrollment, but opponents question whether charter schools actually should be considered public. And in Monroe County, the school comes at a time when Jenny Robinson, a Monroe County Community School Corporation parent, says the education community should be rallying together.
"When you have a sudden development like a charter and students and funding move away from from the public schools, then cuts have to be made," Robinson says.
The Indiana Charter Board denied Seven Oak's authorization twice, and then sought authorization through Grace College & Seminary, which ultimately approved the school. Last month the state awarded Seven Oaks a $2.8 million loan for construction and that's a big reason Board Member Terry English says the school will open this year instead of next.
"If we put it off for a year then we don't have any students coming to our school, we receive no money from the state of Indiana for their education," English says. "Therefore, we don't have any way to pay for the loans and therefore, they won't loan us any money."
Although it was a financial decision, English says the school isn't willing to wait even one more year to get these students involved in this process.
Seven Oaks Classical School is scheduled to open on September 6.
