On June 25th, the Washington State Charter School Commission voted to approve four new charter public schools: Pinnacles Prep in the Wenatchee Valley, Pullman Community Montessori in Pullman, and two new Impact Public School locations in Renton and Tacoma. The newly approved schools are set to launch in Fall 2021.
Pinnacles Prep and Pullman Community Montessori are led by fellows from WA Charters’ School Leadership and Design Fellowship. The two new Impact Public Schools will replicate the Impact Public School model.
WA Charters will work in partnership with all new school leaders as they move into their next phases of development, eventual launches, and long-term operations.
Each team submitted 700+ page applications for authorization and demonstrated their ability to deliver high-quality education models to systemically underserved students and families. Each school model has strong academic, operational and financial components along with a commitment to partnering with communities.
“We are pleased with the Commission’s decision to authorize four school models that will provide more high-quality charter public school options for underserved students and families in Chelan, Whitman, King and Pierce Counties,” said WA Charters’ CEO, Patrick D’Amelio.
“Opportunity and achievement gaps exist for many Washington state students and this gap disproportionately impacts students from low-income backgrounds, those with disabilities, and students who are part of the global majority,” said D’Amelio. “We’re confident that charter public charter schools like Pinnacles Prep, Pullman Community Montessori, and the two new Impact Public Schools will help narrow that gap.”
About the schools
Pinnacles Prep
Designed to meet a need for an additional public middle/high school opportunity in the Wenatchee Valley, Pinnacles Prep is devoted to intellectual inquiry and a collaborative spirit of learning and is committed to delivering a relevant and innovative educational experience in a rapidly changing world.
Nestled in the scenic Wenatchee Valley along the Columbia River, Pinnacles Prep is a proposed charter public school in Wenatchee, Washington and a lead partner in the Our Valley Our Future regional strategic plan.
The small school (60 students per grade level) hopes to open its doors in the Fall of 2021 to serve grades 6 and 7 and then add an additional grade level each year through 12th grade until fully enrolled.
Pullman’s EPIC core values drive everything at Pinnacles Prep:
We practice EQUITY: We develop the empathy needed to champion equity for all. We embed equity into every aspect of our school community.
We PERSEVERE: We develop the perseverance it takes to tackle rigorous academic, social, and personal challenges. We know perseverance leads to resilience and resilience leads to confidence and empowerment.
We are curious: INQUIRY creates ideas that lead to innovation and problem-solving. We have a strong desire to learn and ask good questions about issues that have relevance because they spark learning.
We COLLABORATE: We are stronger together—student and teachers, teachers and family, and school and community. Through true collaboration, we can develop the vision and voice necessary to lead the changes we want to see in our school, community, and world.
Pullman Community Montessori
All students deserve the opportunity to have the education that works best for them. Pullman Community Montessori’s (PCM’s) K-9th grade education program is personalized to students’ needs and prepares them, through rigorous academics, a robust social emotional program, and career and life skill development, to ensure every student has the opportunity, skills, and mindset to be successful in college, career, and life.
PCM is founded on five core values:
Data Driven: Relying on over 100 years of best practices, teachers act as learning guides while trained classroom assistants support classroom culture.
Character & Leadership: Students build essential life skills in an environment of diversity, equity, and inclusion, where differences are the norm and accountability, integrity, and a growth mindset are fostered.
Place-Based: PCM students develop a strong connection to their community through weekly walkabouts and project- and service-based learning opportunities.
Mixed-Age Communities: Practice makes progress as students learn social and life skills in developmentally appropriate age groupings.
Interdisciplinary: Current and future careers require systems thinking and the ability to apply knowledge in real-time. Project-based learning builds connections across disciplines and applies concepts to real-world examples.
Impact Public Schools
Impact Public Schools (IPS) will be extending its footprint in Washington state from its first schools, Impact | Puget Sound Elementary and Impact | Salish Sea Elementary to sites in Renton and Tacoma.
Each school in the IPS network is governed by six core values, evident in the school design:
Bold Ambitions: Self-driven students develop the skills, habits and mindsets to impact communities and invent the future; we support one another in achieving step-by-step excellence along the way.
Brave Solidarity: Diversity strengthens and enlivens us. Dissatisfied yet optimistic, we bring a lens of equity and inclusion to each decision and each day.
Team WA: All of WA is our team. We are powerful when we work together, so we build relationships based on empathy and strive together towards outstanding outcomes for all public school students.
Everyone Grows: We approach each day as an opportunity to learn and grow. We work hard towards our own just-right goals, cheering each other on as we redefine potential.
Play Big: We celebrate. We wonder. We ask. We make and invent and imagine. We play big.
Intention: In the tiny and the huge, we keep the end in mind and reflect on the potential effects of our choices.
Impact | Renton & Impact |Tacoma will prepare a diverse student population to succeed in college and impact communities as the next generation of equity-driven, innovative leaders. Graduates will be problem-solvers, innovators, and change agents of tomorrow. Students will live full, connected, and purposeful lives. IPS’ diverse group of scholars will solve our future’s greatest challenges; together, we will eliminate the opportunity gap in our community. Each school will offer a rigorous, personalized curriculum within a vibrant school community that balances high expectations with joy.
