Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch renews push for new charter high school in Riverhead

Plans for the first charter high school on Long Island live on.

Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch executive director Thaddeus Hill told RiverheadLOCAL last week an updated application, submitted in January, to establish an all-boys high school for grades 7 to 12 in Riverhead, was recently green-lighted to move to the next phase of review.

The ranch had applied for a charter last year but withdrew its application last May, to address shortcomings identified in the review process, Hill said.

“When we weren’t approved last year, we were given a summary of areas [the State Department of Education] thought we might have been a little weaker in and things we needed to strengthen,” Hill said of the proposed school. He said the school’s assembled board of trustees, which has been meeting monthly, made additions and clarifications to the charter high school’s proposed curriculum.

The board is comprised of Hill and seven other community members, including former school superintendent Jean Lapinski and Anthony Messina, a former head of Chelsea School in Washington D.C., who could become the head of the proposed school, according to Hill.

“We also changed our name to S.M.A.R.T Academy – an acronym for Science, Math, Arts, Real world experience and Technology – though we’re still presenting a program that will be a hybrid instructional program that includes real-world based, technology-based and traditional classroom instruction,” he said.

The school, which would be the first charter high school on Long Island, will offer students an educational alternative if they are having a difficult time engaging in their academic studies.

“Our five core values are safety, courage, genuine relationships, rigorous academics and self discipline,” he said. “We feel there’s not as holistic an approach to education that there could be in some situations. Even though it’s still a team-approach with families and parents, we want to develop the whole individual.”

Hill said though the school will not “be afraid to accept kids from any background,” it will not be marketed as a school for at-risk teenagers.

“We’re looking to create a unique way for kids to be educated without coming across as being arrogant,” he said. ” A 1,500 or 2,000 student population doesn’t work well for some students. We’re just trying to make sure there’s an alternative if there’s kids falling through the cracks, regardless of the educational spectrum.”

Though Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch, a Christian organization, will be a partnering organization of S.M.A.R.T Academy, Hill said religion will not have an effect on the educational components of the school.

“The board will function as its own independent entity,” he said, adding that as a partnering organization, Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch cannot exceed 40 percent representation on the board. “There will be some sharing of resources and facilities, for example access to the farming and equestrian programs, but the director will not be dictating how we do things.”

Hill said the S.M.A.R.T Academy hopes to enroll between 220 and 250 students as part of its goal to offer a small, intimate educational environment.

“Minimally, I think 50 enrollees is the basement requirement for the first year,” he said.

The S.M.A.R.T Academy has not yet found a permanent home.

Hill said the board is currently looking to rent facilities within Riverhead Town.
“We haven’t identified that location yet, though at some point there would be a desire to have a school here [at the Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch],” he said.