Chattanooga family an example of how the district’s school choice options can make a difference

Gueller Gonzalez has always placed a priority on ensuring her kids have access to a quality education in a nurturing environment that treats them equally and with respect. The path to that education though hasn’t been the same for each of her five children.Gonzalez’s youngest children have individual education needs that are a better fit in one of Chattanooga’s traditional public schools while her three older children have all found success in public charter schools Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy (CGLA) and Chattanooga Preparatory School.Gonzalez says she first learned about the all-girls CGLA a few years after it opened and enrolled her eldest daughter. Her second daughter followed not long after and she says both received a quality education from teachers who prioritized their students and made school a place they wanted to be.The family’s positive experience with CGLA played a role in eventually enrolling its son in the affiliated all-boys Chattanooga Preparatory School when it opened in 2018.Gonzalez says she wasn’t happy with the traditional public-school options available in Hamilton County and considered switching her son to a private school, but the cost was high.That’s why she was excited to learn about Chattanooga Prep.“I really had a hard time when I started looking for a school for my son because none of the schools, except for a private school, was a good school for my son. But when I found out about the boys’ school? I was like, ‘yes!’” said Gonzalez. “I’m just really thankful for this school and I love this school.”Gonzalez’s son has attended Chattanooga Prep since the sixth grade and will be among the founding students’ first graduating class in 2025.The school’s smaller size was one of the key factors that appealed to Gonzalez since her children have attended smaller schools for most of their lives. She also likes how the school prioritizes and celebrates its students, pushes them to succeed, and engages with parents.“I feel like this school, the charter schools, are a little bit smaller than (traditional) public schools. They are definitely a little bit smaller and because they are smaller, they put more attention to our kids. I think they notice more if my child is failing, or his grades are (getting) lower. I feel like they care a little bit more,” said Gonzales.

Choose Hamilton: School Choice

Gonzales utilized the Choose Hamilton: School Choice process to switch her three children from their zoned school to enroll in a public charter school.The district’s school choice options include workforce development and college schools, Future Ready Institutes, magnet schools, open enrollment schools, along with public charter schools like CGLA and Chattanooga Prep.“Every student in Hamilton County is given the opportunity by design in alignment with our commitment that every student belongs. Choose Hamilton: School Choice helps Hamilton County Students navigate and expand their options, ensuring students have the opportunity to attend a school that aligns with their unique interests and skill sets,” said Hamilton County Schools in a press release.This year the district is expanding the number of school choice options to more than 70 in grades K-12. Some of those schools require a lottery process that’s available for parents to sign up for through January 31, 2024.Parents interested in applying to Chattanooga Prep and CGLA apply to those schools directly. Both admit students on a first-come, first-serve basis and that enrollment process is currently underway.Gonzales says for her the process was quick and easy for all three children.“Just for my child to go to a good school because that was the desire of my heart; really, I always want the best for my kids,” said Gonzalez. “I’m thankful that for me it was just so easy. So, so easy.”Gonzalez says her son is excited to go to school and participate. She attributes that to the teachers who help foster a positive environment and enjoy teaching.She also says her family loves Chattanooga Prep because it fosters a feeling of equality among students where no student is treated better or worse because of who they are. She had the same experience when her daughters attended CGLA.“They treat everyone with the same respect, the same attention, just the same. They are equal. That’s the word. They’re equal in how they’re treated. And I like that. I like that because I don’t want my son to come to me one day and say ‘guess what, they put me in the corner because they prefer so,'" said Gonzales.