The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
ANOTHER CHOICE
Constellation charter school celebrating 20 years
Leaders of a local charter school say their program offers an alternative for students and parents who want options for education.
Parma-based Constellation Schools will celebrate the district’s 20th anniversary this year. The charter school district has grown to about 5,000 in 16 schools across northeast Ohio, including in Lorain, where Constellation expanded in 2001.
“We are a solidly highperforming charter school system,” said Melisa Shady, principal of Lorain Community Elementary School and Lorain Community Middle School.
The two schools sit in one building, Lorain’s former Irving Elementary School, 1110 W. Fourth St.
The Lorain Community Elementary School has grades kindergarten to four on the first floor. The Lorain Community Middle School serves grades five to eight on the second floor.
There are about 340 students and 32 teachers in classrooms where maximum enrollment is 24 students, or 22 for kindergarten.
Shady, a native of Solon, and Assistant Principal
“We run an excellent program but funding it is an issue.” — Melissa Shady, principal of Lorain Community Elementary School and Lorain Community Middle School
Kammera Rice, who grew up in Vermilion, both have worked in public school districts. Rice’s husband, David, served as an elected school board member in Vermilion Local Schools for years.
Constellation Schools share a common goal with public school systems: teaching children, the school leaders said.
“Our main thing about Constellation is, we’re for choice, school choice for your children,” Shady said.
If parents are not satisfied with their children’s education, Constellation Schools and other charter schools give them the opportunity to look for an alternative without moving to another city, Shady said.
“A lot of times that means us, sometimes it won’t be us,” Shady said. “Maybe they were thinking of something else and that’s fine. But at least it gives people opportunities to make a change instead of just feeling, like, OK, I’m in a school system that isn’t working and not meeting the needs of my children or not pushing them and enriching them, and I’m stuck.”
Most of the students come from Lorain, with a mix of some from neighboring communities such as Amherst, Elyria, Sheffield Village and Sheffield Lake. First Student bus service provides transportation.
The 1910 building is solid but its architectural style appears older when compared with the newer building of Lorain City Schools. Inside, the classrooms and hallways are well decorated with inspirational posters, reminders and student art, much like any other school could be.
On Valentine’s Day, the fourth-graders are working on Valentine Science Stations, including mixing up friendship potions. Others are learning about how World War I affected the lives of ordinary people.
In third grade, the students are using cheese-flavored baked snacks to assemble shapes and measure the area and perimeter. Second graders were studying creative writing by drafting their own stories patterned after a book they read.
There is no tuition and Constellation Schools do not collect property taxes that fund Lorain City Schools, Shady said.
“We run an excellent program but funding it is an issue,” she said.
Families pay a $25 application fee and students bring their bookbags. The school provides just about everything else, including HP notebook computers for every student starting in second grade.
Students receive breakfast and lunch and Horizon Education Centers oversees an after-school program to offer 57 students homework help and field trips.
“There’s a lot there if they choose to take advantage of it,” Shady said.
She acknowledged the teachers are not in a union and they are paid less than their public school counterparts.
“We make do on less and put our own little spin on it,” Shady said.
But Constellation Schools also focuses on teachers so they like what they do. The faculty care about the students and families and the teachers and administrators like each other, which makes a difference, Shady said.
A principal for 13 years, Shady said there are four teachers who have been at Constellation’s Lorain schools longer than she has.
“There’s a lot of loyalty, I guess,” she said.
“I think it’s because we believe in what we’re doing overall. Nothing is absolutely perfect but I think we’ve really worked to make it successful.”