The following is a press release from Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina
Raleigh – An innovative, and first of its kind web application launches, solely focused on helping North Carolina families search for schools in their area.
The NC Schools Around Me web app – www.ncschoolsaroundme.com – is a project of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC), an organization of parents who advocate for educational choice.
The app was developed to provide North Carolina families with a central database to search the schools in their area including traditional public schools, public charter schools, and private schools enrolled in the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program. To date over 35,000 North Carolinians have requested information about educational options in our state through PEFNC’s efforts, and that is the main driver behind launching the state-of-the-art database that includes:
ü 2,445 traditional public schools
ü 167 public charter schools
ü 431 of the more than 700 private schools enrolled in the Opportunity Scholarship Program and Children with Disability Scholarship Program
“In light of the significant growth of school choice in our state (public charter schools and private school scholarships), it is critical for families in North Carolina to have a way to properly navigate these array of options so that they make the best decision for their children educationally. Whether it is the traditional public school, or perhaps another option like a public charter or private school, a key component to a successful education for our children starts with involved parents. Our web app makes it easy for families in North Carolina to not only locate the schools in their neighborhood but to learn more about effectiveness and/or a particular educational approach. Thus, we believe the better educated the parent, the better the educational experience for their child,” said Darrell Allison, Founding President of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina.
The app allows parents to input their information and a map updates in real-time with their local options. For traditional public and public charter schools, NC Schools Around Me includes the latest report card gradesreleased by the Department of Public Instruction. That means families can make decisions on the most recent data and grades for schools in their area – this is parental school choice with a digital twist!
“As an organization of over 60,000 parental school choice supporters as well as hundreds of choice schools in our state, our office is often inundated with requests from families across our state who are seeking the right educational options for their children. With NC Schools Around Me our team can now direct them to this resource, as a start down this educational journey for their children. We worked hard to ensure our state-of-the-art web app is user-friendly, fast, and easy for any parent to navigate,” stated Allison Guenther, State Outreach Director at Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina.
Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina plans to aggressively travel the state to introduce this new app to parents and communities in 2017 through a series of events and parent meetings.
For more information, and interview requests, please contact Brian Jodice at brian@pefnc.org or (919)995-0741.
Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC) is a statewide organization that supports greater educational options through parental school choice, such as public charter schools and the Opportunity Scholarship Program. Our mission is to inform parents of the benefits of expanded options and empower them to exercise freedom in meeting their children’s needs, regardless of race, national origin, income or religion. www.pefnc.org
