Catapult Academy, a private, for-profit learning center operator with seven Jacksonville satellite locations, sent a note home to its 861 students and their parents saying the centers might not reopen for the coming school year because the company and the district haven’t agreed to renew their contract.
One of the First Coast’s largest dropout recovery high schools may be dropping out of the market, according to our Florida Times-Union news partner.
Catapult Academy, a private, for-profit learning center operator with seven Jacksonville satellite locations, sent a note home to its 861 students and their parents saying the centers might not reopen for the coming school year because the company and the district haven’t agreed to renew their contract.
Catapult’s regional director, Christine Perez, wrote Monday that the centers will finish the current school year. “Please know that we are doing everything possible to assist your child in completing as many courses as they can before ... the end of the school year,” she wrote. “Through laughter and tears we have created many memories together. It has been our privilege to have participated in that journey and help prepare them for whatever life has to offer.”
The letter may have been premature, an official with the Camden, N.J.-based company said.
“Catapult Learning team members are continuing to work with district officials to determine the nature of our partnership going forward,” said Tim Hickey, senior vice president of marketing. “With the school year coming to an end, and with the discussions ongoing, it appears the letter was sent prematurely by our staff who are concerned about student placement next year.”
The letter also puzzled district officials.
Duval Schools spokesman Tracy Pierce said officials were scheduled to continue negotiating with Catapult this week. The district has been trying to add performance requirements to Catapult’s contract, so funding does not occur unless students achieve a minimal number of course credits.
Should contract negotiations not work out, “we are very prepared to counsel those students to a different program next year if that becomes necessary,” Pierce said.
“Options for these students might include our own Bridge to Success Program, Duval’s online learning programs, their home school or a career academy that connects these students to their own future career vision. Another school that specializes in this type of credit recovery and dropout prevention could also be an option.”
For more than 10 years Catapult has provided “blended learning” on computers and in-person educational services to Duval students.
This school year it served about 861 Duval students, but last school year it handled 1,222, which is about four times the size of other drop-out retrieval schools in the county, according to district documents.
You can read a longer version of this story on Jacksonville.com.
