Who we are…..How we exist….What we do….Where we are going….. A significant portion of my day-to-day work involves explaining who we are and what we do to the public. On any given day I might be touring a prospective family through the school, meeting with representatives of a foundation, conducting an interview, or talking with a reporter. The one question I am almost always asked is….”Can you explain your relationship with GRPS?” This question always makes me smile inside, because even though the answer makes perfect sense to me, I realize it still holds a bit of confusion and even mystery for many. The following is my attempt at explaining this unusual but valuable relationship. A Brief History of the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center Around 1998, a group of parents with children at the Aquinas College Child Development Center, approached the leadership at the college about the possibility of creating a Reggio-inspired elementary school. These parents had been very pleased with the education and care their children were receiving at the center [my daughter Frannie, was part of the first group of children to move from the campus over to the St. Adalbert’s site in 1999] and wanted a similar environment for their now grade-school aged children. The president and members of the college’s school of education agreed to explore the possibility and determined it was worth pursuing, however, they knew that the school had to be public, since the economy of West Michigan would not support another private school. A charter school was a viable option, but this presented a challenge, since, as a parochial institution Aquinas could not hold a charter in Michigan. The two largest charter authorizers, Central Michigan University and Grand Valley University were approached, but declined. This is when the Grand Rapids Public School District entered the picture. State law allows for any ‘public education entity’ to authorize a charter, and GRPS, is definitely that. Then Superintendent Patricia Newby agreed to take on the task and with a bit more blood, sweat and tears, the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center, an elementary Reggio-inspired public school academy, was born. While the parents of the GRCDC were Aquinas and GRPS, our school was born a fully-emancipated adult, with all the rights and responsibilities of a public school. Our legal designation is a public school academy, and in laymen’s terms, we are a stand-alone charter. This means we are at the same time, a school AND a district. This also means that I am legally both the principal and superintendent. GRPS, while a wonderful friend and resource for us, serves purely in a compliance or oversight role and has no day-to-day operational or administrative authority over us. The oversight is limited mainly to finances and assessment scores, and only if a problem arises. As it was explained to me early in my tenure by the CFO of GRPS, “As long as you balance your budget, and continue to improve test scores, you will hear no complaint from us.”, and they have been true to their word. I am also pleased to report that there have not been any ‘problems’ since I began in August of 2010. Since that time our financial picture, and more importantly, the academic achievement of our students have improved steadily and consistently. Of course, this puts me, your Principal, in the sometimes unpopular position of making budget cuts, and focusing on assessment data, but each are responsibilities that help us further our mission, vision, and principles. In short, we are allowed to make and set our own policies, procedures [e.g. afternoon meeting] and decisions [e.g. snow days], as long as they do not contradict state or federal mandate or law. This special designation enables us to provide a safe, nurturing, valuable, and rich learning experience in response to the needs, wishes and desires of our students and families. In short, GRPS is a good friend and valuable partner, but the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center is the captain its own ship.