By Stephanie Prokop, Staff Writer
FLORENCE — With approval from the state Department of Education earlier this month, a citizens group is making progress on beginning the township’s first charter school.
Beth Kelley, a Roebling resident, is a prospective co-founder of the charter school, set to be called the Riverbank Charter School of Excellence. The co-founders hope the school will open its doors at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year, according to Ms. Kelley.
The location of the school is yet to be determined, Mr. Kelley said, although Debra Pontiero, the other co-founder of the school, said members of the board of trustees are in negotiations with a Realtor for a specific facility.
Ms. Pontiero, of Lawrenceville, founded the Pace School in Hamilton Township in 1999 and has served as the business administrator there, and also would serve as a business administrator for Florence’s charter school.
The first school year would feature two kindergarten classes, along with two first-grade classes and two second-grade classes.
Administration for the school would be an eight-person board that has not yet been selected, other than Ms. Kelley and Ms. Pontiero’s positions, said Ms. Kelley. The school would expect to add two third-grade classes the following school year, bringing the total enrollment up to about 140 the second year, she said.
“The school would look to hire its own teachers who are certified to teach kindergarten through third grade,” said Ms. Kelley, now a special education teacher at the Pace School, who also serves as the school’s child study team coordinator.
Emphasis would be on fostering growth and development through smaller class sizes, which would not exceed 18 students per class, said Ms. Kelley.
The reason for establishing the charter school, said Ms. Pontiero, isn’t due to any lack within the current public school district. Rather, she said, it was because the two feel “it’s a way to offer parents a choice in their child’s education.”
“It’s a free choice, it’s considered public education,” she said.
The Department of Education defines a charter school as a public school open to all students on a space-available basis that is funded by taxpayers but operates independently of the district Board of Education under a charter granted by the state commissioner.
Once the charter is approved by the commissioner, the school is managed by a board of trustees deemed to be public agents authorized by the Department of Education to supervise and control the school.
The 62 charter schools currently operating in the state are receiving $247.9 million in state aid. Total enrollment for New Jersey’s charter schools is approximately 16,000, according to the state DOE Web site.
“We’re both very confident that this would be a viable asset to the community. We have a lot of experience, we know what it takes to be successful in the charter school arena and we’re not novices here,” said Ms. Pontiero.
Anyone interested in learning more about the school’s curriculum or with specific enrollment questions is encouraged to e-mail [email protected].

