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Published by
The Center for Education Reform
Jeanne Allen, President

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Wyoming Public School Succeeds with Parental Support

Imagine a public school principal who has to field requests from expectant parents to place their unborn children on the waiting list for his school’s kindergarten class!  That is the situation Norm Carrell of Ft. Caspar Academy in Casper, Wyoming faced until his school established the rule that children had to be born and have a social security number before they could be placed on the list to attend this unique, parent-initiated school.

        Five years ago the local superintendent approached Carrell with an idea for a new type of elementary school in his district.  He was inspired by parents who wanted a more academically rigorous school and more involvement in their children’s education.  Carrell visited and researched several other schools in neighboring states that had adopted such a model.  These schools of choice required significant parent involvement – support of high academic standards, mandatory attendance at parent teacher conferences, and regularly signing homework sheets – and boasted outstanding academic achievement.  The concentrated focus on traditional academic progress, discipline and ethics has earned such schools the name “back-to-basics.”

        When Carrell announced his findings about the success of back-to-basics schools, literally hundreds of parents and other community members attended meetings to find out more.  Plans were drawn up and a proposal submitted to the school board.  Despite the support and efforts of many parents, including many that had previously left the district to homeschool, the local school board voted down their proposal after much heated public debate.

        Support for the new school continued to grow.  Parents made the school board accountable for turning away their idea.  The next fall, they elected new school board members.  Following a brief controversy, these parents again applied to the school board.  This time the motion passed.

        In the fall of 1995 Ft. Caspar Academy – a new public school – opened its doors to 110 students in grades K-6.  Originally they expected to have only one class per grade, but parent demand forced them to have two classes each for grades K-3.  Even then there was a long waiting list.  In the last five years the school has more than doubled in size and added grades 7 and 8.  A section of ninth-graders will begin this fall.

        The curriculum at Ft. Caspar Academy is structured and consistent.  All the teachers train for two summers in the Spalding Language Arts program, an excellent integrated language arts program that emphasizes phonics, writing and reading comprehension.  The math and social studies programs adopted by Ft. Caspar Academy are also top notch, and are partially credited with 30-40% gains on standardized tests in several grades.  Ft. Caspar Academy, which mirrors other district schools ethnically and economically, continues to achieve at the highest levels in the state.

        Principal Carrell, when asked to explain his students’ success, points to parental involvement and choice.  “They agreed to take back parenting responsibilities if the school would focus on academics all day.”  The other big difference, of course, is that parents choose to send their children to Ft. Caspar and feel vested in that decision.  They’ve been so successful that other schools are looking at Ft. Caspar to see how to produce the same results.

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