A base school is the school that students will be attending for the other half-day that the STEM Platform school is not in session. Students will attend Innovation Academy in the morning and return to a base school in the afternoon for related arts, and to participate in after school extra-curricular activities if they choose. The county will have two base schools: Colonial Heights Middle School and North Middle School. The county system will operate a bus to and from these two base schools for this initial year, since the interest was greatest at these two schools.
If a student does not attend one of these base schools and still desires to attend the STEM Platform School, parents will have a couple of options. The first option is for the student to enroll at either Colonial Heights or North Middle once he or she has been selected to attend the STEM Platform School. By enrolling at the base school, students can fully participate in the integrated science and math curriculum. The second option is for the student to remain enrolled in his or her current school, and participate in a STEM enriched opportunity at that school. Sullivan County will have STEM enriched related arts segments at Bluff City Middle, Holston Middle, Colonial Heights and North Middle for those students who were not selected to attend Innovation Academy. There are a few smaller schools that we will not be able to offer the STEM enriched opportunity this first year, but it is planned to operate the STEM initiative at all middle schools within the next two years.
Nearly 500 students have applied for 160 positions at the Innovation Academy, so a public lottery will be held on June 6, 2012 at 5 p.m. in the auditorium at the Eastman Employee Center (400 S. Wilcox in Kingsport). Students will be selected by a live lottery drawing. Parents and students will be allowed one week to decide and commit to keeping their place in the school. If for some reason, someone decides not to attend the Innovation Academy, he or she can release his or her place in the school. Another drawing will be held in the next few weeks to fill in positions that were relinquished. One of the most important selection principles is balancing a demographically representative sample of students from the community. This will ensure that the school has a balance of boys and girls, a representative minority population, and a representative group of students who receive free and reduced lunch. A fair and equitable process has been established, and the public lottery will ensure an added measure of fairness and transparency.
Each student who has applied has been assigned a lottery number. Parents will receive an email with the student's lottery number and a letter of explanation. During the live lottery, only lottery numbers will be called, names of individuals will not be released for the public or the media at that time. A list of students enrolled in the Innovation Academy will be completed and sent to the school, but not necessarily the media. Parents will have the option of divulging their child's enrollment.
It is understood that some students who do not reside in the North or Colonial Heights area will not have the same opportunity to attend the Platform School because of transportation, but the option to attend is still available if parents can provide transportation for their child. Sullivan County Schools believes strongly that STEM literacy is for all students, and are committed to using what is learned at the Platform School and sharing it broadly throughout the county's schools.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Jubal Yennie or Kristi King at 354-1001. We look forward to opening an exciting program at the STEM Platform school in the fall.
