IONIA COUNTY, Mich. — Families attending Threshold Academy received a letter Thursday saying the school will close June 30.
Threshold Academy is located at 5827 Orleans Road in Orleans and is managed by EightCAP Inc. in Turk Lake, north of Greenville. The public charter school educates students for free in kindergarten through the fifth grade with a motto of “Small School – Big Heart.”
The letter sent home Thursday, signed by Principal Victoria Simon, says the Threshold Academy school board was informed March 31 by Central Michigan University’s Governor John Engler Center For Charter Schools that the school no longer would be authorized to operate beyond June 30.
All charter schools in Michigan are required by law to have an authorizer to ensure that the school is legally compliant and provides a solid educational program.
The letter said the CMU Center said it would not reauthorize Threshold Academy due to low MEAP proficiency, that four years ago the CMU Center informed Threshold Academy that it must increase the number of students proficient on the MEAP test “or else.”
The letter goes on to say that Threshold Academy students have improved their MEAP proficiency every year, “but CMU has indicated it isn’t enough.”
“This year we made a beautiful leap in reading, giving us the highest MEAP proficiency in the history of our school,” said Simon. “I am so proud of our children and the hard working staff that have caused this improvement.”
