Foundation Kicks Off Annual Fundraising to Support Charter Schools

The Lake Wales Charter Schools Foundation has kicked off it's 2019-20 giving campaign, committed to improving the educational opportunities for all students in the community, according to campaign chairman and Foundation chair James Tully.

With the opening of Bok Academy North two years ago, the charter system now operates seven schools, serving a total of approximately 4,750 students. For the fiscal year that ended June 30, the system realized overall revenues of $39.5 million, over $4.5 million of which came from "contributions and other revenue."

That represents a jump in that figure of more than $2 million in just the past two years.

"As Lake Wales Charter Schools continue to build on its foundation of success – with all school achieving incredible academic improvement – we also recognize the additional challenge that success brings with it, including the incremental increases to our student enrollment," Superintendent Dr. Jesse Jackson said. "More students at Bok North, large numbers of students vying for seats in LWHS International Baccalaureate program and other wonderful LWCS initiatives are all creating quite a stir."

He said the number one challenge is quality of teachers.

"Our continued success hinges on our ability to recruit the highest quality teachers possible," he added.

Tully noted that the system continues to excel, even with its growth, including Dale R. Fair Babson Park Elementary improving to an A school, and Polk Avenue Elementary a B school. Bok Academy has been an A school since its inception.

"In 2019, 94 percent of Lake Wales High School graduates enrolled in college or the military and some have done very well in our Academies to further their future careers. And all our schools either improved our maintained their Florida Department of Education school grade," he added.

For more information on how to donate, visit http://www.lwcharterschools.com.