In early 2007, Charlie Copeland, then a Republican state senator, was having lunch at the Charcoal Pit on Kirkwood Highway with Terry Spence, then the Republican Speaker of the House, and Tommie Little, a GOP lawmaker from the late ’60s and early ’70s, and attorney Don Marston. They were talking about school discipline problems, Copeland recalled, when the conversation morphed into a discussion about how so many dropouts lack a sense of community and purpose.
“Tommie said, ‘first responders — they’re people with a sense of community,’ ” Copeland said, “and I thought, that’s what we need, a first responders’ charter school.”
That school, the Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, opened Tuesday. Copeland is serving as president of the school’s board of directors; Little, who navigated the school’s path through the state’s approval process, still sits on the board.
The academy is starting with a ninth-grade class of about 165 students and will add a grade a year until it offers a full high school curriculum in the 2014-15 academic year, said Charles Hughes, the head of school.
New charter school profile: Del. Academy of Public Safety & Security
Excerpts of interview with the head of Delaware Academy of Public Safety & Security, Charles Hughes.
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Housed near Christiana Mall on the grounds of Faith City Church, in what was once Faith City Christian School and later Tall Oaks Classical School, the academy’s college-prep curriculum will introduce its students to careers in law enforcement, firefighting, emergency medicine and related professions, Hughes said.
Each semester, cadets will take one daily class related to public safety and security, he said.
In addition, the school will encourage its students to get involved in community service by volunteering with fire companies and similar organizations, and it is developing partnerships with fire and police agencies to help set up those links, Hughes said.
And another thing...
Delaware Academy of Public Safety
By definition, charter schools are supposed to be innovative, so they should be a place to look for unique courses. Even so, the “elective” that all students at the Delaware Academy for Public Safety and Security will take this year isn’t one that easily meshes with the school’s overall theme.
It’s a class titled “Explore China,” arranged in collaboration with the Confucius Institute at the University of Delaware. Students will learn about Chinese culture and get an introduction to the Chinese language. If interest persists, it could lead to an Advanced Placement class in Chinese three years from now, head of school Charles Hughes said.
Hughes offers an interesting explanation for how electives find their way into the academy’s curriculum. “I tell the students, ‘A lot of schools you have electives, but in our school, because we’re small, I pick them for you.’”
Another plus: the school has been able to recruit faculty members who also have experience as first responders. For example, Sandy Hypes, the public safety instructor, had been a senior instructor at the Delaware State Fire School for 13 years, and Ron Patterson, director of student support services, has volunteered for 24 years with the Wilmington Manor Fire Company and says he has “held every position in the fire service except for chief.”
The school has attracted students from all over New Castle County — they come from 45 different middle school programs, Hughes said — and a few from Sussex County as well.
Parent John Palko of Newark gave three reasons for enrolling 14-year-old son at the academy: dissatisfaction with traditional public schools, his son’s interest in becoming a paramedic, and Hughes’ track record in running charters. Hughes, a principal in the Christina School District from 1989 to 2000, was the founding principal of the Thomas A. Edison Charter School in Wilmington, serving there for eight years before spending the last three years as principal with the Chester (Pa.) Community Charter School.
Hughes thinks the school’s curriculum and emphasis on community service will give cadets a leg up on their peers when it comes time to apply for college. Not only will their applications list activities like athletics, student council and other clubs, but they’ll also be able to list experience with CPR, emergency management and community service, he said. “We think that will be a defining characteristic.”
And, Hughes said, the experience of faculty members as first responders ensures that the cadets will have a true understanding of their chosen profession well before they apply for a job. “We’re people who have worked in these roles,” he said, “so the students will be able to relate to us, not just as teachers but as mentors as well.”