One City School’s plan to establish One City Expeditionary Elementary School in South Madison has been approved.
One City received notice from the University of Wisconsin System’s Office of Educational Opportunity on Feb. 15 that its proposal to add grades one through six to its existing public charter school was authorized.
“It’s really exciting. We have always intended to grow to 12th grade – that’s our long-term goal. The reason why we didn’t apply for elementary school right out of the gate is that we didn’t know what the money would look like coming from the state or the federal government,” Kaleem Caire, founder and CEO of One City, tells Madison365. “We just didn’t want to overcommit ourselves knowing that this year we had to raise $1.7 million; we have to support our budget.
“Once we realized how much the money would be and the allocation and we got approved for the National School Lunch Program and things like that, that’s when we reapproached the state and told them we were ready for this next step,” Caire adds.
Caire says that One City submitted its proposal and went through an interview process. “They were very happy with our proposal,” Caire says.
One City will add first grade next school year and will begin enrolling children in grades 4K, 5K and first grade for the 2019-20 school year during its upcoming enrollment period, March 4-22. With this expansion, One City will enroll up to 116 students at its elementary school and 28 children in its preschool that currently serves children ages 1-3. At full capacity, the elementary school will enroll a maximum of 316 students.
“It feels good. Our families are excited. We’re set to go live with six different radio ads over the next couple of months to recruit enrollment and hopefully getting some very good teachers,” Caire says.
Caire is currently in the middle of an intense MMSD School Board race campaign that he says is focusing on building coalitions to create great schools for children.
“People ask me why I’m running for school board when I have this school. But I don’t look as the two as separate,” Caire says. “If I could do all of this within the Madison School District, I would. It just hasn’t worked out that way. Charters give us an opportunity to do something different and see if it works. If it does, let’s expand it within the school system. I just can’t sit back and wait for other people to do this when our kids are struggling.”
One City is supported by a board of prominent community leaders including:
◆ Marcus Allen, PhD, Senior Pastor, Mount Zion Baptist Church
◆ Robert Beckman, CPA, CEO, Wicab, Inc.
◆ Bethe Bonk, One City Parent and Mental Health Therapist, Pathway to Wellness Community Clinic
◆ Gordon Derzon, Retired President & CEO, UW Hospitals & Clinics
◆ Carola Gaines, Badger Care Outreach Coordinator, UW Health/Unity and Past President, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
◆ Joseph Krupp, Owner, Prime Urban Properties and Food Fight Restaurant Group; Founder and former owner, Krupp General Contractors
◆ Gloria Ladson-Billings, Ph.D., Retired Professor of Education and Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education, UW-Madison
◆ Lynn McDonald, PhD, Retired Professor of Social Work at UW-Madison and Middlesex University in London, and founder of the internationally acclaimed FAST (Families and Schools Together) Program
◆ Jodie Pope Williams, One City Parent and Academic Advisor, Madison College
◆ Noble Wray, Retired Chief, City of Madison Police Department
“We have so many community partners working with us on this,” Caire says. “That’s the whole notion behind One City: everybody coming together in the village. What really makes us different are the various people from all walks of life that have been involved in one way or another in this program. Every school in Madison should have that.”
