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KINsTON CHARTER ACADEMYClosing the Achievement Gap

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Kinston Charter aCademy

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Closing the aChievement gapProduced by Eric Gunn & Written by Shelley Seyler

Johnnie Forrest Lyles had a mission: to improve the educational system in Kinston, North Carolina for minority students.

As a member of the Lenoir County board of education, Johnnie saw the achievement gap affecting minority students, particularly the African American and Hispanic populations, and was concerned that these students were not getting a proper education. With progressive ideas on how to best improve this, Johnnie ran into opposition and realized he would be able to accomplish more on his own.

“He felt he could do a better job so he went out and organized people, put together a plan for a charter school, and did it,” said Ozie Hall, Principal of Kinston Charter Academy.

Kinston Charter Academy was founded in 2003 and today has an annual budget of $2.5 million with 360 students, 45 staff members, and an average class size of 18.

In its first few years, Kinston Charter operated on a 200-day school year. When the school ran into some financial troubles, Ozie was brought in to assess the situation and help enact the change Kinston desperately needed. One of the biggest

alterations involved transitioning from their 200-day school year to a 180-day school year with each day extended by 45 minutes. This gave the school 22 extra days while still decreasing the costs to the school.

The Best Kind of Improvement

“Charter schools may appear to under perform state or local district public schools but when you control for economic disadvantage, the numbers for charter schools outperform the same population,” explained Ozie.

Kinston Charter Academy not only aims to improve the achievement gap for minority students but also sets this bar high: they want their students to be performing in the 95th percentile. “We want to be an honor school,” stated Ozie.

With Kinston’s student body being comprised of 90 percent Title I students, their performance consistently comes out on top of other local schools on standardized tests when the same groups of students are compared. One example of these numerous performances is their fourth-grade reading score of 75 percent with 64, 68.3, and 63 as the scores for their competition.

Where the Credit Belongs

Attributing this performance in part to their more efficient use of time, Kinston Charter’s teachers, instruction methods, and board of directors also deserve recognition.

“We have targeted instruction and remediation with individual students to focus on things they didn’t get,” explained Ozie.

The school also employs various methods to keep students engaged with their education. One of these is cultural responsive teaching to inspire and motivate the students to learn. Culturally responsive teachers respect all students’ cultural, racial and linguistic backgrounds and use these backgrounds to inspire learning. Kinston also uses multiple intelligences theory which recognizes that each student has different strengths. Teachers then cater to the varying learning styles to reach each individual.

Kinston’s teachers and board of directors also play an intrinsic role in improving the school’s performance. “We have a

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Kinston Charter aCademy

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committed staff and several retired teachers who brought a wealth of wisdom and experience,” said Ozie. The board of directors includes an attorney, business owner, a plant manager, and a university professor from East Carolina University. “We have always had a board but it was not as diverse. Each person brings a different set of skills to the table and gives us a lot of guidance from many sources.”

Integrated into Kinston’s curriculum are initiatives to give students exposure to the global landscape from the classroom. The school uses currencies from around the world to talk about financial literacy

and foster math skills. International exchange rates allow teachers to discuss math issues and expose students to other cultures as they examine currencies. “We use that to expose students to a global culture and talk about what is happening in other countries,” said Ozie.

Kinston recently conducted a rocket launch to teach students about geometry. Plotting lines, points, right angles, obtuse triangles, and other related geometric challenges allowed the students to get a true hands-on lesson and see geometry in action. “They were able to see how these things translated into a rocket launch,”

explained Ozie.

The school also has a national junior beta club and fourth grade honor society to keep the students engaged. “We try to do things regularly to encourage students and give them something to look forward to. We want all our students to be greater than 95 percent; to be at or above their grade level.”

For basic office supplies and other necessary products, the school turns to Reliable Supply for their affordable services.

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Among Their Challenges

Looking to set the bar at or above 95 percent means the school needs to attract top-notch teachers. For traditional public schools, this is often easier as their teacher positions are state-allocated and they can offer a higher salary to those with advanced degrees. “We are just trying to manage to get the highest quality possible,” commented Ozie.

The disparity allows public schools lottery money and capital funding, with charter schools struggling to meet basic needs such as transportation. Not granted access to the transportation information system that public schools are privy to, Kinston plotted their own bus routes and created their own schedule.

Despite these challenges, Kinston is working hard to improve the environment for their students. The school is hoping to bring their food preparation on campus from its current

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Established : 2003Staff : 45

Students: 360Leading the School : Ozie Hall

SCHOOL AT A GLANCE

remote location, though the kitchen facilities will require some renovations for this endeavor. Aiming to replace their HVAC units, improving their playground, and eventually moving to a 14-acre site, Kinston is gearing up to do some serious fundraising.

“A lot of schools target specific students, trying to get those who are already academically proficient. We don’t take that approach…We have a mix of students because that is the reality of the school system. We don’t want high scores by manipulating we want those scores because we have good programs and can reach all our students,” explained Ozie.

Kinston Charter Academy dreams big and with their teaching methods and drive to become among to top performers in the state, students and society at large can only benefit from the school’s initiatives.

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Kinston Charter Academy2000 Martin L. King Blvd.

Kinston, NC 28501United States