This article was originally posted by The Des Moines Register.
At Great Oaks High School & Career Center in Des Moines, the ringing of a bell brings everyone to a momentary halt ― another student has completed a course credit.
The ensuing high-fives and congratulations are part of the charter school's larger mission to help students earn a high school diploma and learn about career options while simultaneously building students' confidence and self-esteem.
Brisney Vasquez, a senior and the first Great Oaks student to complete all her credits, has heard the bell ring for her several times. She will focus the rest of her schooling on training to become a plumber, learning about construction work and completing the necessary certifications.
She changed schools from Des Moines' Lincoln High to Great Oaks so she could finish her academic studies more quickly to focus her learning on plumbing and building.
"I wasn't getting that opportunity to keep learning more about construction," Vasquez said Friday.
She was among several students who spoke with Gov. Kim Reynolds Friday for Great Oaks' official opening at 100 E. Euclid Ave. It served as a reminder of how much Iowa's educational landscape has changed since Reynolds announced a legislative agenda three years ago that focused on giving families more education options for their children.
That same year, Reynolds signed into law House File 813 ― which expanded the state's rules on who can open and operate a public charter school in Iowa. Now, seven charter schools are operating across the state, and another six are scheduled to open next year.
Charter schools are public schools that operate with greater freedom from the rules that other public schools must follow. In exchange, they must "attract students and produce positive results within five years or risk losing (their) charter," according to the Iowa Department of Education.
Great Oaks is managed by Oakmont Education, an Ohio-based, for-profit education management company, with schools across the country. It focuses on helping students who have dropped out or who need a different learning environment to earn their high school diploma and gain job training in fields ranging from construction to the medical industry.
The school, which has been in session since Aug. 26, has about 75 students.
Reynolds touted the school Friday as an example of offering choices to meet students' unique needs.
Reynolds thanked community partners and staff for making Great Oaks a reality. She also thanked students for trying a new way of learning.
"I know it's not easy to make your own path, especially when it includes some significant roadblocks," she said, "but I can also tell you that second chances are real. I'm a product of that, and no setback is ever final."
Republicans' push to expand "school choice" and parents' rights in Iowa continued during the 2023 legislative session with the passage of education savings accounts or ESAs.
The savings accounts let parents and caregivers apply for approximately $7,600 from the state for private school costs, including tuition. For the 2023-24 school year, nearly 17,000 students took advantage of the program.
In December, the Iowa Board of Education gave approval for three organizations ― Florida-based CIVICA Network, Opportunity Education and Scholarship Prep ― to open charter schools at the start of the 2025-26 school year in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. Great Oaks and Empowering Excellence were approved at the same meeting.
More groups are expected to apply to open charter schools ahead of the state's Nov. 1 deadline, said Mike Huguelet, executive director of the Iowa Coalition for Public Charter Schools. Huguelet is Vasquez's uncle.
Private schools make inroads in Iowa
Public charter schools are not the only changes to education in Iowa.
Several new private schools have opened since Reynolds signed the education savings accounts bill, House File 68, into law in 2023. The accounts are funded using public money that otherwise would have gone to public schools.
One of the new schools is Empigo Academy in Des Moines, which opened its doors at the end of August to about 20 students. The private Christian high school focuses on career and technical education and helping its students earn a high school diploma.
Jenson "Fig" Newton, founder and head of school of Empigo Academy, launched the concept of the Bible-based tech and vocational school in 2023. Since the school is "provisionally accredited," families can use education savings accounts to cover much of the cost, said Victoria Knight, Empigo's dean of students and head administrator.
Students attend classes four days a week and start each day with Bible study before moving into their core classes, including science and math.
The academy is renting space at Franklin Junior High, an event center and former Des Moines Public Schools building, where Horizon Science Academy charter school also operates.
Newton and the staff “saw a need for students just needing an option for secondary school and Christian education” that also focuses on career and technical education, Knight said.
Empigo officials believe the private school, with its focus on the trades and careers, is unique in the state.
"There's no other model out there, but we were highly encouraged by many to still do it because of the need," Knight said.
Number of out-of-state-managed charter schools continues to grow
Oakmont's management of Great Oaks is part of a growing trend of out-of-state management companies opening public charter schools in Iowa. Concept Schools, an Illinois-based nonprofit charter school management company was the first to come to Iowa, opening Horizon at the start of the 2023-24 school year.
"(Great Oaks) is a place where kids can feel safe to make a mistake,” Cris Gulacy-Worrel, Oakmont’s vice president told the Des Moines Register.
“It's easy to oppress uneducated societies. So, we are tasked with the important, I think, task of giving these students their autonomy back and their ability to have agency and self-determination to fulfill what it is that they want to do and dream.”
Great Oaks’ students are also taught that a diploma is not the “finish line” when it comes to education, said Jerry Farley, Oakmont's vice president of career and technical education. Great Oaks staff members focus on work-based learning and ensuring students earn nationally recognized industry credentials.
“We get wounded students,” Farley said. “We get students that need to move from a survival mindset to an aspirational mindset. If a workforce development approach is ever going to work, you have to believe that tomorrow can be better and that there is something more to your life than getting the diploma.”