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The charter school was founded in 2005 and was one of the first authorized and longest-running IB-focused public charters in the county.
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. — Despite working to address financial shortfalls, the operator of one of Prince George’s County’s longest-running Charter Schools announced Friday that the school would close.
The EXCEL Academy Public Charter will be closing ahead of the 2025-2026 school year.
“We are as devastated as our wonderful community of educators and families are about this sudden closure,” said Lisa Butler McDougal of SEED/EXCEL Charter School, LLC, the school’s nonprofit operator. “We are aggressively working with Prince George’s County Public Schools to ensure our families are placed in charter schools with vacancies across the school district and that our teachers and staff are able to fill vacancies in other schools.”
According to a press release from the charter school’s operator, EXCEL Academy faced financial shortfalls due to relocating to a new facility during the COVID-19 pandemic, failing to reach enrollment targets, and budget changes impacting all charter schools in Prince George’s County.
The charter school was founded in 2005 and was one of the first authorized and longest-running IB-focused public charters in the county.
Jermaine Moore and Dawnetta Woodson-Moore’s son, Jeremiah, was enrolled in the school until its abrupt closure. The closure stunned their family.
“Actually, I didn’t hear that it was possibly closing. I do understand that it being a charter school that it depends heavily on um funding outside of uh state funding, right? There was not a conversation that I was privy to or I recall hearing that the school would be closing or there was a jeopardy there was a jeopardy of it closing in the near future,” Woodson-Moore said.
Now and eighth-grader, Jeremiah had attended the school since kindergarten. After taking a beat to consider how to broach the subject with their young son, the couple determined to “pull the band-aid off.” They said Jeremiah was “upset, naturally,” but handled the news with aplomb.
“He took it in, in stride,” Woodson-Moore said.
The couple quickly pivoted to researching a new school for Jeremiah and recalled that a close friend of his had transferred to another school not far from their home.
“It is unfortunate that our families are faced with this level of uncertainty at a time when they should be happily preparing for the first day of school,” adds EXCEL Academy Founder. “We share their concern and implore the school system to work hastily on their behalf.”
Parents will receive notifications from Prince George’s County Public Schools on the next steps regarding placement for next week.
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