Anne Frank Inspire Academy


Anne Frank Inspire Academy is a public K-12 charter school in northwest San Antonio, operated by Braination. The school is in proximity to Helotes and was named after Anne Frank.

History

It opened in 2014 with 150 middle school students. 220 applications for admission were submitted to the school by April 2013. It was the first non-disciplinary charter school operated by the district. The school had a cost of $5.5 million; funds used to establish the school originated in savings amassed from government funds for the disciplinary schools, and the establishment used almost all of the district's savings. Braination closed one of its existing schools, located in a detention center in Post, Texas, and gave its state campus identification number to Frank because its charter limited it to operating six schools. In 2014 the school had seven teachers, what it called "facilitators", with all but one having prior significant teaching experience.
Its elementary school facility and 9th grade were scheduled to open in fall 2015.

Student body

Admission is by lottery; the majority of the students resided in the Northside Independent School District, as the school is within the district's territory. the school had 400 students.

Campus

The facility, designed by RVK Architects, has of space. The school was designed to have extracurricular activities and includes a coffeeshop, a nature trail, a pond, and a treehouse. Pete Nelson, a treehouse builder from Portland, Oregon, built the treehouse.

Curriculum and operations

Teachers are known as "facilitators" at this school. Learning is self-directed, with students meeting advisors and attending teacher-directed seminars each morning before starting work. Students may engage in tutoring, work in small groups, or work by themselves. Therefore the school lacks a bell schedule, as well as desks and hallways seen in traditional middle schools. Students described the movement throughout the school as "controlled chaos".
The school planned to have art, computer, and robotics elective courses. the school had no plans to have athletics.