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An integrated, place-based curriculum.

American Quality Schools

The Board has contracted with American Quality Schools Corporation (AQS) to handle day to day operations of the school. AQS is a not-for-profit educational management organization founded by Dr. Michael J. Bakalis and located in Chicago. The Board chose AQS both for its experience and success in operating other charter schools in Indiana and for the involvement of the founder of AQS in the Green Charter Schools Network.

AQS managed schools continue to substantially outperform comparable schools in their geographic areas on the respective state achievement tests. All AQS schools demand student achievement, good citizenship, parental involvement and consistent discipline. The rigorous academic program also commits the teaching and administrative staff to the integration of technology into the curriculum.

All AQS managed charter schools use the Core Knowledge Curriculum as the basis for the academic program and the Paideia method of instruction. All AQS schools utilize a strong character development and leadership component as an integral part of the educational program.

All teachers and staff of The Discovery Charter School will be employees of American Quality Schools, and as such, AQS, through the school’s principal will have the responsibility for hiring all employees.

The AQS approach to retaining high quality staff is composed of a number of key elements:

1. Mentoring support for new teachers comes from on-site “Team Leaders” who work constantly with new teachers, helping them with material selection, teaching strategies, planning, and classroom management.

2. All teachers are provided with a full range of materials including educational technology to help ensure effective teaching.

3. Teachers are given on-going feedback from Team Leaders and administrators on their teaching effectiveness.

4. T eachers participate in decision making through a committee structure which deals with issues
and makes recommendations to the administration.

5. A faculty advisory council meets three times each year with the President of AQS.

6. Teachers are given assistance with tuition for graduate work.

7. T eachers work in a performance-based system so that high quality teaching is rewarded by
large salary raises as well as financial bonuses.

8. T eachers are encouraged to attend seminars, conferences, and workshops to enhance their
professional expertise

The key element in all the above initiatives is that AQS attempts to respect teachers as professionals, views them as partners in the education of children along with administrators and parents, and rewards and recognizes them for their excellence in teaching.

Chris Austria will serve as AQS’s Regional Manager for Discovery Charter School. He will work directly and frequently with Discovery’s Director and Team Leaders to regularly support the goals, curriculum, and policies of the school. He will also visit classrooms to observe and monitor curriculum and instruction.

discovery school board oversight of aqs

The school’s advisory Board oversees AQS through several formal and informal methods. The Board, as the charter holder, has the sole responsibility of evaluating AQS’s performance in meeting the mission and goals of the school as set forth in the charter, and subsequent annual accountability plans during a formal review of AQS at the end of each academic year. Also, AQS will make available a representative for each Board meeting, and, along with the school’s director, will report in writing on the monthly academic performance, financial condition, and operational aspects of the school.