Magellan Charter School

The Magellan Charter School is a charter school in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was founded by Marybeth Childers and George Coccarelli. Today it is considered to be one of the best charter schools in North Carolina. Magellan was founded on the premise that learning can be a dynamic interactive and fun experience. The founders also envisioned an environment where parents are welcomed as a crucial part of school experience itself. Through the efforts of many devoted, hardworking people, those who attend Magellan would believe that the founders goal has been achieved. The charter was approved by the state in 1997, and Magellan became one of the state's first charter schools. Its principal is Mary Griffin. Also two years after the foundation of Magellan, Raleigh Charter was created by some parents of 8th graders at The Magellan Charter School who decided to establish a new charter high school so that their students could continue to learn in a nurturing and academically rich environment like they received at Magellan.^[1]

Location

Magellan is located on Baileywick Road in Raleigh, North Carolina. It serves all of Wake County.

Students

Magellan is home to over 300 students in grades 3 to 8. Third Grade was added in the 2007-08 school year. There is an average of 65 students in each grade and about 16-17 students in each class.

Academics

Magellan offers Math, Science, Language Arts and Social Studies as its four basic subjects. Many extracurricular activities are available in the ASAP (After School Arts Program) including musical theater, drama, art, game design, cooking class, Chinese, chess club, web team, and The Latest Wave newspaper. Magellan also participates in FIRST LEGO League Club tournaments. They have won Directors Award (overall first place) and the Performance award two years in a row at the state FIRST LEGO League tournament and participated in the international FIRST World Festival twice, and have received multiple trophies, displayed in the school lobby. Magellan has also participated in Envirothon. They have gone to state competition in the years of 2003-2004, 2004–2005 and 2005-2006. Magellan students have won numerous awards in these programs.

Sports

Magellan is home to several sports teams:

Fall:

• Girls Volleyball
• Boys Soccer
• Girls Tennis
• Coed Cross Country

Winter:

• Girls Basketball
• Boys Basketball

Spring:

• Girls Soccer
• Boys Baseball
• Boys Tennis

In most sports, Magellan belongs to the Triangle Middle School Conference.

Applications

Prospective students are selected by random lottery. Younger siblings of admitted students are automatically permitted to attend, as long as their older sibling is still attending; once they are, they can attend Magellan.

New Building

In 2008, The Magellan Charter School was moved from its original location on Forum Drive to a new building on Bailywick Road. The new building featured bigger rooms, an elevator, a gym, and a large field for outdoor recreation. The students, as the News & Observer wrote, witnessed a change from pavement to grass. Endeavor Charter School is now in the old buildings on Forum Drive.

Mission statement

The mission of The Magellan Charter School is to provide a challenging intellectual journey for highly motivated students.

Therefore:

- While we teach the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, our teachers use every opportunity to enrich the learning experience for the students.

- Our school day is divided equally into the core subject areas: math, science, language arts and social studies.

- While emphasizing the four core subject areas, we seek to integrate the arts on a regular basis and provide experiences that are interactive and experiential.

-We believe that academic grouping in mathematics and language arts facilitates learning.

Notes and references

1. ^ "State's First 37 Charter Schools Receive Board of Education Approval". North Carolina Board of Education. 1997-03-17. http://www.ncpublicschools.org/newsroom/news/1996-97/19970317. Retrieved 2006-07-27. 

External links

• Magellan Charter School

Coordinates: 35°54′38″N 78°39′42″W / 35.9106°N 78.6617°W / 35.9106; -78.6617