Merit Academy Opens Despite Past Hurdles

Parents Designate the Merit Academy as a ‘No Politics’ School

In late 2019, a group of parents in Woodland Park got together to form a school in order to give local parents more school options. The pre-pandemic move came about as the parents noticed several families choosing schools in the Colorado Springs area instead of the local school district. The parents wanted a local choice where students were given a more classical approach to learning.

Once the steering committee for Merit Academy formed, the group had eyes on opening up the doors of the school for classes in fall of 2021. However, the mission did not come without hurdles. The first hurdle the group faced had to do with getting approved as a school.

The steering committee first tried to gain approval as a school through the Woodland Park RE-2 school district. But, after presenting their plan the school board voted unanimously to not approve the proposed school.

The steering committee was determined and did not stop there. After not being approved by the school board, the group sought legal counsel to determine what their next move would be. The legal counsel for the group recommended that they seek approval through another entity.

Last April, the school was given the green light to open up through approval by the Education reEnvisioned Board of Cooperative Educational Services in Colorado Springs. Now that the school gained approval, the next step was to find a facility that would meet the requirements.

Eventually the school found a building large enough, but the location that used to be a hardware store was located in a shopping center where businesses sold alcohol. Since the businesses were there first they would be allowed to continue to operate, but if they ever sold their business the new owners would not be able to obtain a liquor license due to the business being too close to a school.

The steering committee then went up in front of the Woodland Park City Council to amend the ordinance so that the businesses in the shopping center would be able to sell alcohol no matter what happened in the future. After some debate, the council voted to change the ordinance so that the school’s location would not negatively affect any local businesses in the future.

The school opened its doors on August 23, 2021, but not at their new location. Currently the school operates out of a local church until the new building is ready. According to steering committee member Katie Illingworth, the school hopes to be in their new location this November.

Currently, the school is only operating for grades kindergarten through 8^th. But, it hopes to be open to all grades in the near future. The school opened with 186 enrolled students with another 65 on their waiting list that is constantly growing.

Use of Technology in Schools

One main concern that parents have had deal with the local school district’s use of technology. The school district uses the Summit Learning platform, which has raised concerns nationwide due to the fact that it is funded largely by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

But according to Illingworth the steering committee was focused on having another option for students available locally. “We don’t have our kids on Chromebooks, for example, all day,” Illingworth said. “That is a model that the school district uses here. They use a pretty high technology model, which I think a lot of parents like. But, for parents like me it’s not my favorite. I have four kids and they all have different learning needs. My oldest has autism and he does not do well with screens. So that’s what started me looking down the path for something different that does not involve using a laptop or Chromebook all day.”

The Merit Academy uses a more textbook style approach when teaching children. The curriculum also includes an ancient language, such as Latin, and a modern language. The school also plans to incorporate the Rocky Mountain environment into their learning.

‘No Politics’ School Designation

Once classes started at Merit Academy, the parents decided that they wanted a school that would not include politics in the learning process. The school plans to focus on teaching children how to think critically and not push political agendas.

“I don’t know if our school district is implementing politics into the curriculum or not,” Illingworth said. “I would say though on a national level I think we can all see that there are certain agendas that are being pushed in different schools around the country. Our group of parents saw that and they wanted to have an educational model that really goes down to teaching children how to think not what to think. We also recognize that things like politics, morality and religion, those kinds of things belong to families and parents to teach their children not schools.”

The Maverick Observer, or “The Moe” as we affectionately call it, is an online free-thinking publication interested in the happenings in our town. We launched in February 2020 to hold our politicians and businesses accountable. We hope to educate, inform, entertain, and infuse you with a sense of community.