College Park Academy


College Park Academy is a charter school middle and high school located in Riverdale Park, Maryland, United States. The school is a joint collaboration project with the University of Maryland, College Park. This will provide benefits such as interaction with college students and allow students to take college preparatory classes.

History

Established in 2013 as the first online blended learning school in Prince George's County Public Schools, College Park Academy uses the online education program Connexus. This allows students to complete their classes via computer in school, providing a more resource efficient method of teaching, with teachers acting as aids and guides whenever the students need them. The school currently has 661 students in grades 6-12. The school uses a lottery-based system to allow students from all parts of the community to attend the school.
The nascent College Park Academy attempted to lease the previous College Park elementary building in College Park, but there was community opposition. Instead it chose to lease space in the former St. Mark's School in Hyattsville. The school opened with grades 6–7 in August 2013 with about 300 students.
The school built a new facility to house the students and plans to open in fall 2017 at its new location, south of College Park-University of Maryland station and opposite the National Weather Service building at the University of Maryland. According to sources, the school's official grand opening will be on September 14 and 21, 2017. Its permanent campus in Riverdale Park opened on Tuesday October 3, 2017. At the time the school had 500 students.
Race/ethnicity2016–2017
African American60%
Asian/Pac. Islander5%
Hispanic14%
White13%
Two or More6%

Curriculum

In 2013, all course modules and information are available for students on the internet. About half of the teaching is done in person while students use the internet service to access the remainder of the teaching information. Seven foreign languages were taught.