The Princeton International Academy Charter School announced this month that it has filled over 100 of the 170 available seats for next year.
PIACS, scheduled to open in September, will consist of students from the Princeton, South Brunswick, and West Windsor-Plainsboro school districts. The school will be the first public school in these districts to offer an International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum framework as well as dual language Mandarin-English immersion.
For the 2010-’11 school year PIACS will offer kindergarten, first and second grade instruction, and will add one grade each year thereafter. The admissions cycle will continue monthly until PIACS is filled, according to the PIACS website. According to the website, there are fewer than 30 seats remaining in first grade and second grade, respectively.
The charter school has been the source of controversy, as officials in the WW-P school district have criticized the state’s approval of the charter school, saying it hurts WW-P students and takes away money from the district, where similar Mandarin programs are available (see letter, page 2).