Special to the Recorder
Mayor Greg Ballard has approved the application of Damar Charter Academy, which if ratified by the City-County Council, will open in the fall of 2011.
Damar Charter Academy seeks to provide an additional option for students with significant developmental challenges. While the school will be open to any student who wants to attend, Damar will specialize in serving students with significant cognitive, behavioral or developmental challenges, including those on the autism spectrum.
Through a plan that emphasizes research-based approaches to individualized and relevant learning, the academy seeks to maximize the life prospects for students in academic, communication, behavioral and daily living skills. In its first year, the school will serve 150 students in grades K-12, and it will grow to eventually serve a maximum of 400 students. The school will be operated by Damar Services Inc. and located on their grounds at 6067 Decatur Blvd.
Damar Services has been providing specialized education and behavioral support services for children and adults with significant developmental and behavioral challenges for more than 43 years. The company serves more than 1,200 individuals on a daily basis with more than 96 percent of individuals served going on to live more independent lives. Damar has operated an accredited residential school serving more than 200 children on a daily basis for more than 15 years. Programming for students in the residential school will not change. Damar Charter Academy will serve students with similar challenges as the residential school but who do not require a residential placement.
“I congratulate Damar Services for their dedication in meeting the needs of a very important group of students in our community,” said Ballard. “I also thank the City-County Council for the bipartisan support the school has received thus far and for their consideration of a high-quality proposal that will meet a huge unmet need in our city.”
The mayor announced the opening of the school following a rigorous evaluation process by the Indianapolis Charter School Board, led by former Lt. Gov. John Mutz. The board held multiple televised public meetings and thoroughly scrutinized the application over a five-month period with the assistance of the mayor’s charter school staff and external experts in curriculum, governance and finance. Recordings of the public meetings and the school’s application are all available on the city’s website at www.indy.gov.
Students attending the charter academy will receive individualized plans for their education developed by the Education Support Team (EST). Each EST will include the student, the parent(s), the classroom teacher, a behavioral health professional, and a number of direct care support professionals that are present each day in the classroom setting to assist with academic and behavioral progress. The school will operate on a year-round schedule providing extended school year support to ensure that newly learned skills are maintained.
Charter schools are independent public schools that have control over their own curriculum, staffing, organization and budget. In exchange for this authority, they must meet the highest academic standards. Twenty-two mayor-sponsored charter schools are currently in operation.
