Latasha McDuffey began following Ambition Prep Charter School on Facebook right as COVID-19 hit in 2020. Impressed by the school’s preparations to navigate the social distancing mandates, the mother of two decided to visit for the open house.
“They had the glass walls set up for the kids so that they were able to be six feet apart,” McDuffey told the Mississippi Free Press on Sept. 9. “They were prepared. To me, they were more prepared than (public schools). I’m gonna say that.”
“When I went to the open house, I just fell in love with it from there,” she continued.
McDuffey enrolled her children that fall and the pair have been at the public charter since. But with her oldest, Donivan, entering the seventh grade, McDuffey had begun to think about next steps for the boys who would soon be aging out of the K-8 school. Her options were an area private school or moving into a family home outside Clinton so the children could attend school there. McDuffey may not have that to worry about now. The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board approved Ambition Prep’s application to expand its grade offerings to include high school on July 21.
“When I heard about it, I was actually openly excited, because I’ve been hoping they would be able to get that expansion,” McDuffey said. “I’m very excited that they are (expanding), because now I don’t have to do all that.”
Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board Executive Director Lisa Karmacharya said the expansion will bring public school choice full circle for the metro area.
“It’s incredibly exciting because our children that leave us from any of our (charter) middle schools in Jackson right now have to go back to their home school or their home school district or try to find another place,” Karmacharya told the Mississippi Free Press on Aug. 26. “They’re making such great gains and such progress in our schools that having an opportunity for families to continue that educational journey for those families and those children is going to be a game changer.”
Ambition Prep expects the first 9th-grade students to start in July 2027 and will add a grade each year. The school projects that it will reach capacity at 12th grade in the 2030-2031 school year.
More Public School Options
Founder and Executive Director DeArchie Scott founded Ambition Prep as an elementary school in 2019. He said that parents and students in the Jackson area needed better educational options at that time and that the charter school provided those options.
“I started doing the work of founding Ambition Prep in 2017,” he told the Mississippi Free Press on July 24. “At that time, about seven of the nine elementary schools in this area or surrounding this area were rated either a D or an F, and we needed the quality schools. So that’s why we’re here.”
Scott and the board collaborated with community members and partners, including Hope Federal Credit Union, to transform the space at Reformed Theological Seminary into a K-8 school. The group completed a multimillion-dollar renovation to add a full science lab, virtual reality lab, gym, auditorium, cafeteria and kitchen.
“We always knew that we wanted to be in the West Jackson community, of course, serving students all around Jackson, but specifically in this community (of) ZIP code 39209,” he continued. “So I worked with board members and community members to secure our spot here.”
He said the high school expansion is one that parents have been requesting since the school opened its doors.
“Our families have been concerned about where their children would go for high school for years now, and it just became clear that expanding to high school was the next step, given our continued academic success for our students,” Scott said. “Right now, all of the charter schools and Jackson are either elementary or middle school, so it’s going to give families the option to send (their) child to a K8 and then also it’s going to allow (them) to continue a college preparatory model.”
Karmacharya said that charter schools are not in competition with public school districts. However, she hopes that the success of charter schools like Ambition Prep prompts area schools to reexamine their processes.
“I think we should coexist and we should complement one another,” she said. “But I also know that humans in their humanness are sometimes energized by competition. And when you see someone else doing somewhat better than you are, performing better, having higher expectations, having better outcomes, then you’re energized by that. It somewhat motivates folks to find out, like, what can we do better?”
Ambition Prep earned a B rating on the Mississippi Statewide Accountability System for the 2023-2024 school year. JPS’s Northwest Jackson International Baccalaureate Middle School earned an A rating, and Bailey Academic and Performing Arts Complex Middle School earned a B rating. All other JPS middle schools earned a D or F rating. The district is rated a C overall.
“I think that proves what can happen when you have high expectations, strong leadership and a student-centered model,” Mississippi Charter Schools Association Executive Director John Dixon told the Mississippi Free Press on Aug 7. “It can really make a difference.”
Dixon said the school’s success is a reflection of the flexibility and innovation of the charter school model. The Mississippi Charter Schools Association is a nonprofit statewide organization that supports and advocates for high-quality public charter schools.
“I share (Lisa Karmacharya’s) sentiment of what we’ve seen from DeArchie’s school and the success that they’ve had,” Dixon said. “I do know that the authorizer board and the association that I’ll have the privilege of leading is laser-focused on ensuring that our charter schools are quality. I think Ambition Prep is leading the charge of ensuring that quality charter schools are ones that we are supporting and ones that we want to see more of.”
Karmacharya told the authorizer board during the July 21 meeting that Ambition Prep was the first school to use the MCSAB’s new expansion process. She lauded the school’s work on the application.
“They did a beautiful job, and I could not say anything other than congratulations from my perspective,” Karmacharya said.
The school will need to expand physically to accommodate the new students and is scheduled to construct new classrooms beginning in January 2026 at the current Clinton Boulevard location. In the application, Ambition Prep presented a letter of support from the education advocacy organization Mississippi First and stated that the education advocacy group confirmed the school’s eligibility to apply for a $1.5 million charter school program grant.
Ambition Prep founder and Executive Director DeArchie Scott said the application process thoroughly vetted the school’s current standing and ability to handle additional grade levels.
“It is a rigorous process,” Scott told the Mississippi Free Press on July 24. “It does require a full review of our academics, our operational strategy, our growth strategy, our current performance, as well as our leadership capacity.”
Charter Schools Are Public Schools
Charter schools are publicly funded educational institutions open to all students. They operate under a contract that allows them more autonomy in operations and management. There are 10 schools with more than 3,000 students in charter schools in Mississippi, Dixon said.
Charter schools in the state have faced backlash from some public school advocates. In 2016, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit against the state on behalf of seven parents with public school children in Jackson schools over charter school funding. The organization argued that the state law passed in 2013 diverted funds from traditional public schools. However, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the state’s funding plan for charter schools in 2019.
The Mississippi Free Press reached out to the Jackson Public School District to discuss how the expansion could affect the district; however, JPS declined an interview.
“At this time, the District is unable to accommodate an interview request,” JPS Director of Public Engagement Sherwin Johnson said in an email on Aug. 6. “However, it is important to note that under current Mississippi law, a charter school operating in a district rated A, B, or C may only be authorized if a majority of the local school board votes to endorse the application. Jackson Public Schools is currently rated as a C district.”
Spokesperson for the Mississippi Charter Schools Association Chris Gonzalez said that Ambition Prep’s expansion to include high school grades is an amendment to its existing charter, not a proposal for a new school. Therefore, local school board approval is not required.
Ambition Prep is the second charter school in the state to receive approval to add high school grades. The MCSAB approved Clarksdale Collegiate Prep’s request to expand in 2023.
“I’m excited about the opportunities that we’re giving families in our schools,” Karmacharya said. “It’s a wonderful option for families that maybe don’t have the financial means to seek out another option. I’m proud that it’s a public option, because that’s what’s important to me is that we provide a public option for families and do right by children and families in Mississippi.”