With Funding, New Charter School Hopes to Open in Pasadena

A new school that’s part of an innovative charter network called NewSchools Invent Cohort hopes to be able to open in Pasadena next fall.

The school, Alma Fuerte Public School, said it has received generous funding from the NewSchools Venture Fund, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that supports schools focusing on a non-traditional approach to basic education.

The Fund announced last week that the Cohort had been given more than $3 million in grants to fund the opening of four new schools this fall, and the planning of 10 more schools set to launch in fall 2017. One of the 10 is Alma Fuerte.

Alma Fuerte plans to locate in Northwest Pasadena and is officials said they will submit the required charter petition to the Pasadena Unified School District next year, hoping to open its doors to Pasadena schoolchildren in September, 2017.

Set up by a team of professional educators, Alma Fuerte officials said in a statement their philosophy differs from the traditional educational approach and will focus on student entrepreneurship and the development of 21st century skills.

By graduation, officials said, each student will have launched a company of their own design.

Among the school’s administrators are College Spring Executive Director Kathy Dominguez, career educator Amy Dresser, Pasadena charter school advocate Anne Lee, career financial analyst Sean Markin, Academy of Arts and Sciences Charter School official Elizabeth Oberreiter, and Southern California Public Media finance leader Melanie Sauer.

“Our goal is to create an environment that teaches each child as an individual and that develops passionate self-learners,” a statement on the school’s website says. “Our curriculum is focused on building innovative creators. Alma Fuerte will be a school that raises leaders with character that take action to advocate for the needs of our community and the world.”

The school’s team of administrators was among 14 teams selected by NewSchools Invent Cohort out of 52 applicants to receive funding. Teams were selected based on the promise of their school’s ability to meet the needs of today’s students. The Cohort placed an emphasis on school models that are designed to personalize learning for students and enable them to develop the agency that leads to long-term success.

In addition to funding, NewSchools Invent provides teams with a supportive cohort experience – from the critical planning phase through early implementation – to help make their visions for groundbreaking new schools a reality.

“We’re enthusiastic about this NewSchools Invent cohort,” said Scott Benson, a managing partner with NewSchools Venture Fund. “It includes a diverse group of innovative leaders in cities across the country who are ready to take on the challenge of creating new types of schools. We need more innovative schools designed to better serve each student with personalized learning environments.”

Alma Fuerte is one of four schools in California that were selected to receive NewSchools Invent funding.

NewSchools Venture Fund is a national nonprofit that seeks to transform public education so that all children have the opportunity to succeed – especially those in schools that do not currently work for them. To achieve this goal, NewSchools identifies the most promising and innovative education entrepreneurs and helps them effectively accomplish their missions to achieve outstanding results for the students they serve.

NewSchools helps to reimagine K-12 education to help students finish high school

For more, see: http://www.almafuerteps.org/