D.C. charter board approves two new schools The two schools that won approval - a Montessori elementary and an adult education program - will open in fall 2014. Both successful applicants had been rejected in previous years and returned this year with stronger applications, board members said. Academy of Hope is an existing nonprofit with a mission to help adults learn to read, earn general equivalency diplomas and build skills they need to get and keep a job. It currently operates two campuses in Wards 5 and 8 that rely largely on volunteer teachers and tutors. As a charter school, the academy will be able to hire full-time qualified teachers and use volunteers to bolster support services. Board members said they were impressed with Academy of Hope's record of making a difference for adults in need. When you walk in there, you see students really engaged. You see teachers really committed," said board member Emily Bloomfield. The school's supporters erupted in applause when the board voted unanimously to grant it a charter. "That was a gauntlet," said Lecester Johnson, Academy of Hope's executive director. The board also gave conditional approval to a proposal submitted by teachers who currently work in a Montessori program at the District's Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, which is slated to close in June. That new charter, Lee Montessori, will win full approval after it beefs up its curriculum for older students and wins certification from the Association Montessori Internationale. Its founders aim to open an elementary program in Ward 5 or Ward 7. The board rejected an application for the proposed One World Public Charter School, whose organizers boasted strong connections with the elite Sidwell Friends School - including an executive director who recently retired as the principal of Sidwell's lower school. Board members said that application was marred by multiple grammatical and spelling errors and contained far too little detail about plans for a promised ongoing relationship with Sidwell. The application also failed to explain how the arts-focused school would actually integrate arts into daily lessons, board staff said. Nexus Academy, a "blended learning" high school that would combine online and face-to-face instruction, was rejected after board members expressed concern that the school's schedule - four hours a day, four days a week - would not offer enough support for city students. The board also denied applications by three alternative schools seeking to serve struggling and at-risk students, citing a failure to offer details about how the schools would improve academic outcomes for such difficult-to-reach populations. Crossway Community, which operates a Montessori charter school in Montgomery County, was turned down for failing to adequately describe how its program would work in the District. And board members said Nannie Helen Burroughs, a private school seeking to convert to a charter for financial reasons, failed to show that its leaders possess the experience and ability to succeed. The board was unanimous in each of the nine decisions. The board also voted unanimously earlier this year to allow Rocketship Education, a California-based nonprofit, to open up to eight schools in the District serving more than 5,000 students. The first two Rocketship schools are slated to open in 2015.