Ivy Prep Academies is eliminating its high school classes at its three campuses at the end of this month, leaving about 90 students to find alternative places to continue their education.
Ivy Prep leaders made the decision based on their belief that the school did not have enough funding, staffing and space to properly educate those students, said Alisha Thomas Morgan, a former state lawmaker hired in August as Ivy Prep’s executive director.
“We have to do what’s in the best interest of our scholars and that’s what this decision was based on,” Morgan said Thursday.
The charter school has two campuses in DeKalb County and one campus in Gwinnett County. The DeKalb County single-gender schools — one for boys and one for girls — serve students from kindergarten. The Gwinnett campus, which serves girls, has classes that begin in the sixth grade.
Morgan said Ivy Prep will help students transition to other schools.
Quinn Hudson, spokesman for the DeKalb County School District, said leaders from the school and the school district will meet Friday to discuss next steps for transitioning students.
The plan likely will include meeting with parents and students before the transition.
“We do have a plan in place,” Hudson said Thursday. “We are talking with (the district’s) senior staff. We have meetings set with the executive director to begin putting together a detailed plan working with parents and the staff” at Ivy Prep.
Ivy Prep will provide ACT and SAT tutoring and college counseling through the rest of the school year.
“We are still committed to their success,” Morgan said.
The Georgia Department of Education gave Ivy Prep a charter to operate in Gwinnett in 2008 and for the DeKalb schools in 2011. The schools operate 200 days a year, 20 more days than traditional public schools.
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