Parents and chimps unite

A group of southeast Atlanta parents hopes some classes at a new school in Grant Park will be a regular zoo. No, really. Zoo Atlanta is partnering with the Neighborhood Charter School Committee in a quest to have an Atlanta Public School now under construction on Mercer Street designated as a charter school.

The Atlanta Board of Education gives the school its funding and must approve its charter. If it wins a charter, the school will be run by a board composed of parents, teachers and community leaders. The idea is to give the teachers more flexibility and allow them to use more creative teaching methods.

The zoo is helping the charter’s organizers develop a conservation curriculum for its Young Explorers classes in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades. Organizers say Zoo Atlanta’s participation could also give organizers an advantage when the charter proposal goes before the school board because the zoo is run by the city.

Slated to open in the Fall of 2001, the school will serve students living in Grant Park, Ormewood Park, Woodland Hills and the McDonough/Guice areas.