New U Early College Public Charter School,

DC Public Charter School Board Hearing

April 28, 2025

New U Early College Public Charter School,

Testimony of Cathy Reilly

This is a school for 11th and 12th graders, so it is dependent on students leaving their current high school.  The Boundary and Student Assignment Study completed in 2024 included a strong recommendation on planning both within the charter sector and between DCPS and the charter schools.  This application does not address the ramifications for schools that will be affected by the exodus of students after 10th grade.  It is a very limited cohort starting with 33 students and going to 144.  While it is all about doing college in high school and compressing the experience to make it more economical, it does not adequately address quality or what might be a full educational experience for 16- to 18-year-olds.

The application refers to different studies but does not adequately reference the expanded programming that is currently happening within DCPS, OSSE, existing charter schools and the DME Advanced Technical Centers.  There are ever expanding opportunities to do dual enrollment at the fully accredited and long- standing Universities that we have here in the Nation’s capital. 

I would suggest that the NewU University work with existing high schools to see if they might be approved for dual enrollment within the existing charter network for the courses they offer.  Do they have the quality that would be attractive?    While surveys might have demonstrated that students would like to complete college in 3 years with limited cost, the majors are limited and the track record is not there.  There are as of yet, few colleges that accept the college credit awarded in this high school.  The Bard model awards credit from an established institution but also gives the young people a high school experience and a community.  Bard is also a known so credits have a high chance of transferring as students mature and might make a different choice for college.   I am not in support of this application.