South Cobb Groups Win Grants to Start STEM Charter Schools

South Cobb parents will soon have two new STEM charter school options, backed by organizations such as Lockheed Martin Corp., Southern Polytechnic State University, Kennesaw State University, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Cobb County Schools, along with several local political and community leaders and technology professionals.

STEM charter schools have curriculum which focuses on science, technology, engineering and math.

On Wednesday, Gov. Nathan Deal’s office announced that organizations backing the two schools– South Cobb’s STEM Inventor Academy and the Smyrna Academy of Excellence–were among 11 winners of grants in the second round of the Race to Top Innovation Fund program, a $19.4 million competitive grant program created from the state’s Race to the Top program.

The schools each received a $50,000 planning grant.

Does South Cobb need STEM charter schools? Why or why not?

Through the Innovation Fund, the state awards grants to partnerships between local education authorities or charter schools, institutions of higher education, businesses and nonprofit organizations that develop or implement innovative and high-impact programs aimed at producing positive outcomes for students.

"The Race to the Top Innovation Fund provides a unique opportunity for communities to collaborate and leverage their expertise to develop innovative solutions in education,” stated Deal in a Wednesday release from the Governor’s Office. “We set the bar high in the first round, and the applicants selected for round two awards rose to the challenge. These projects provide big scale potential for developing our greatest resource and ultimately, ensuring Georgia’s competitiveness.”

The STEM Inventors Academy is a partnership between Kennesaw State University, Southern Polytechnic State University and Cobb County Schools to create a South Cobb charter school focused on developing students into STEM inventors, researchers and problem-solvers.

South Cobb parent Nathan Riley helped lead the initiative.

Riley, a mechanical engineer and South Cobb resident, inquired about bring a STEM school to the area.

“In the global world we live, STEM is undoubtedly an area that our children are lagging in. We’re still falling way behind the international benchmarks,” Riley said.

The South Cobb community expressed interest and a demand for a new type of school option in the area and even petitioned for it.

said STEM Inventors Academy will be an “innovation-focused school.”

“I think now is a great time for innovation and a chance for kids in our area to show their brilliance…We want to provide another option that can better meet the needs of parents and students in the area,” Morgan said.

The Smyrna Academy of Excellence, a partnership between Lockheed Martin Corp., GSU and Georgia Tech, applied for a $2.13 million Innovation Fund grant, but was awarded $50,000.

The school will open in July 2013 for Kindergarten - sixth grades. Over the following six years, the school will expand to K-12th grade until it reaches its capacity with approximately 2,000 students. In 2020, the school will award diplomas to its first graduating class. For updates and background about SAE, visit Smyrna-Vinings Patch.