Anne Arundel County is offering programs and assistance to the students and their parents of the recently closed KIPP Harbor Academy.
“It is important that they have our support as they transition back into the traditional public school system,” County Executive John Leopold said in a news release.
The 107 students from the Edgewater charter school will receive a one-year membership to any Boys and Girls Club in Anne Arundel including Freetown, Meade Village and Annapolis.
The clubs can provide additional help with homework for the students who must be reworked in the school system, Leopold said.
“If the program will provide learning opportunities for students and help these kids stay on the path to college, then that?s for good,” said Steve Mancini, spokesman for the academy, which is one of about 50 Knowledge is Power Program schools serving low-income communities nationwide.
To help ease the transition for KIPP parents, a partnership between the county government and the Anne Arundel Community College?s Parenting Center will give parents access to courses at the college.
“The courses will give parents the tools to know what the right choices are to guide their students,” college spokeswoman Linda Schulte said.
Parents can choose from a broad range of courses “that meet their personal family needs such as Parenting Adolescents for Success and Financial Planning,” Leopold said.
The school system is contacting parents with registration information for their home schools, which are the public schools in the district where they live.
“The school system is prepared to enroll them in their home schools,” school system spokeswoman Maneka Wade said. “They are still public school students no matter what.”
The KIPP Harbor Academy School Board voted unanimously last week to close following Principal Jallon Brown?s resignation because of a lack of KIPP-trained teachers and adequate classroom space.
“The best option would have been if KIPP stayed open and someone had stepped up and offered space earlier,” Mancini said. “But short of that, anything the community can do to help these kids is a step in the right direction.”
