Where are you located?
The Kindezi School is located in the old Turner Middle School facility. The address is:
98 Anderson Ave. NW
Atlanta GA 30314

What is a charter school?
A charter school is a public school that relies on federal and state public school funding but is allowed more flexibility by the government in the way that it functions and teaches students. All charter schools are held to the same public school standards for student achievement, and are not allowed to charge any sort of student tuition.

Will The Kindezi School charge tuition for students who attend?
As a Georgia public charter school, we operate from local, state and federal funding, not from student tuition. Students enrolled in Kindezi will attend at no cost to parents or guardians.

How will enrollment work at The Kindezi School?
Kindezi School will be open to enrollment for any family within the Atlanta Public Schools district. If more students apply for enrollment than there are spaces, enrollment will be determined using a random lottery system.

When will The Kindezi School open, and what ages will it serve?
Kindezi School will open its doors for the 2010-11 school year. During our first year, we will enroll 96 students for kindergarten, first, second and third grades, with four classes of six students in each grade. During each following school year, we will add an additional grade level with 24 students in each level, culminating with a K-8 school of 216 students.

How can a charter school exist financially with only six students per class?
Many public schools have a low staff-student ratio, but still have 20+ students per classroom teacher. While Kindezi will have a principal, a business manager and an administrative assistant, many of the administrative duties will be shared between the teachers themselves. Using this design, we allow for a more democratic school design and a smaller administrative staff, which frees funding to hire more teachers and create smaller class sizes.

Why do we need another charter school?
Members of the Kindezi team feel that our charter school model’s innovations can make a drastic impact on our students’ lives, as well as challenge what the general public thinks is possible in school reform. Our vision of a school with family-sized classrooms, teachers who instruct primarily through tutorial and project-based learning methods, and arts integration into all subject areas is one that we believe will greatly benefit southwest Atlanta.

What does “Kindezi” mean?
Our school’s approach to pedagogy, school organization, community-building and much more is inspired by the principles and practices of the Bantu people of Kongo, Africa. Their indigenous pedagogy, Kindezi, literally means to take responsibility for the care and holistic development of other people’s children. They express their commitment to collective responsibility in the following proverb: “The child in the mother’s womb is the burden of one person; outside (born) it belongs to everybody (in the community).”

What is the Reggio Emilia philosophy, and how does it impact Kindezi School?
Reggio Emilia is the name of a town in northern Italy, a town that is globally distinguished for the fascinating and unique way it takes collective responsibility for the education of its infants, toddlers, and pre-school age children. The Kindezi School’s K-8 program will draw inspiration from the principles of Reggio Emilia. The marriage between Reggio Emilia and Kindezi is not difficult because they are both grounded in similar principles and practices.