About Us

I. What is a Charter School:

Academics Plus is a public charter school in Maumelle, Arkansas. Our school was founded to provide an educational experience to every child that is focused on a rigorous curriculum designed to prepare students for college. It is our goal that every child, regardless of race, ethnic origins, national background, or socioeconomic status can receive a high quality education, equivalent if not surpassing a private school, at no cost.

There's no such thing as "a typical charter school." Understanding the charter idea will help families and other interested people understand why there is so much difference among the schools.

So what is the charter idea? Briefly, it is that families should have free, public school options beyond what is offered by the local district. This provides new options for families, and creates competition for school districts. Each charter would have considerable freedom to hire faculty, create a distinctive curriculum and program, and establish special features that make sense to the faculty and families involved in the school. In exchange for greater freedom, charters are expected to improve student achievement, or be closed. The charter idea builds on four fundamental American values:

• People should have a chance to carry out their dreams.
• Individuals have responsibilities, along with rights.
• Americans have freedom within some limits.
• Americans generally prefer choices to monopolies.

Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have adopted the charter idea, producing more than 3600 charter schools in the United States. All charter schools are free, and open to all students. They do not have admissions tests, and must be non-sectarian. Each charter has a contract (hence the name 'charter') with its sponsoring organization, outlining its goals, methods of measuring student progress, and what the school must do to have its contract renewed. However, charter schools vary enormously in philosophy, size, curriculum, focus, method of instruction, and location. The differences among these schools also help explain why it is vital for people to look closely at individual schools, rather than make generalizations about whether every charter school is a good (or bad) place for a student. A youngster might thrive in one charter, and not in another.

II. About Academics Plus Charter School:

Academics Plus Charter School (APCS) enjoys a reputation for student performance and academic rigor. We have a proven curriculum that exhorts our pupils to excel in their personal achievement. Our faculty is deeply committed to student learning and the student experience! Established in 2001, APCS not only offers strong core curriculum, but we also offer art, drama, foreign language options, physical education, and computer science through our core program.

We are a safe and positive school in which individual excellence and community involvement is fostered. It is the expectation of each member of our family, from Trustee to faculty and staff to students and their families, to treat each participant and visitor we encounter with respect and dignity. This allows each of us, faculty and students, to develop and learn to our maximum potential. Each student, as well as his/her family members, are regularly encouraged to be actively involved in the school, community and their choice of faith based activities so that we individually and collectively set and achieve high goals both individually and socially. In addition to academics, we offer an extracurricular program that meets a variety of needs and interests for both student and their parents including student government, sports and clubs, including:

• Basketball
• Student Council
• Beta Club
• Yearbook Staff
• Science Club
• Cheerleading
• Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)

III. Myths About Academics Plus Charter School:

At APCS we recognize that many prospective students and their families may be unclear about the role and responsibilities any Charter School holds within the local educational environment; and, specifically what the advantages of placement in Academics Plus Charter School are. To ensure that our constituents are fully aware of what APCS is, and is not, please make special note of the following FAQs:

• Does APCS charge tuition fees, or other hidden costs, in order to support student enrollment? NO - APCS is an open enrollment public school. Charter schools are a public school operated independently of the local school board as a separate district, often with a curriculum and educational philosophy different from the other schools within the region.
• Is APCS a Private School? NO - In order to defer the cost of operation a Private Schools pass along these costs to their participants. Generally these charges involve an application fee, enrollment tuition, materials fess, activities and other hidden charges. APCS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization that receives much of its funding from grants, corporate partnerships and other federal and state protected educational entitlements based upon student enrollment. Although parents are encouraged to support the school through financial donations or other tax deductible donations, it is not a requirement of our enrollment criteria.
• Is APCS only for gifted and talented students or for pupils who demonstrate otherwise exceptional achievement in other school environments? NO - APCS curriculum meets the same standards and requirements as other public and private schools as required by the Arkansas State Legislature and identified by the Arkansas State Department of Education.
• Is APCS college curriculum Advanced Placement (AP) coursework similar to what coursework available in more traditional educational environments? NO - APCS college curriculum is actual College and University Studies coursework offered as a dual enrollment arrangement facilitated by an educational partnership between APCS and the University of Central Arkansas (UCA).
• Is APCS a member, or other recognized entity, within either the Little Rock School District (LRSD) or Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD)? NO - APCS is a member school of Pulaski Charter Schools, Inc., an independent privately held charter school district recognized by, and responsible to, the Arkansas State Legislature.
• Does APCS experience similar financial distress as other Arkansas public school districts? NO - APCS has a very positive cash flow; and, as of January 2008 the district has a per-student surplus of nearly $1,150.00 to aid in the enhancement of the educational experience. In fact, as of January 2008 the districts Board of Trustees are planning an aggressive facility improvement and property development project which is designed to further enhance each students educational experience.

IV. Five Reasons Academics Plus is a Success:

1. An unparalled collegiate program available to all high school students

• % of high school students at our school enrolled in the collegiate program - 95%

2. Small class sizes insure that personal attention is given to each student

• Teacher Student Ratio at our School - 1:11
• Average Teacher to Student Ratio at Private Schools across Central Arkansas - 1:13

3. Impressive growth seen from all students that have attended our school over the years

	Average National Percentile Rank on Standardized Test (SAT9) the first year in our school	Average National Percentile Rank on Standardized Test (SAT9) for the same students now	Percentage Increase Over the Years the Students have attended our school
English Score	67.5%	79.0%	11.5%
Math Score	63.8%	80.7%	18.3%
Composite Score	67.0%	76.3%	9.3%

4. Supreme academic excellence achieved by our students

• Average ACT score from our school - 21.2
• Average ACT score from Arkansas students - 20.4
• Average ACT score for our nation - 20.9

5. ALL children should be given an opportunity at a quality education!

• % of Minority Students at our School - 29%
• Average % of Minority Students at Private Schools across Central Arkansas - 5%
• Average % of Minority Students for all schools across the state of Arkansas - 12%