WRAY: Winning the Harmony Lottery

July 07, 2010 2:00 PM

While one might have expected shouting and cheers of delight as numbers were called, parents gathered to find out whether their child will be selected to go to Harmony Science Academy waited quietly as Harmony Schools superintendent Soner Tarim read the numbers aloud.

“Oh, there’s your number. You’re going to Harmony,” Brittany Powers told her 5-year-old son Nick, after his number was called.

Nick, who will be a kindergartner this fall, didn’t seem to be really challenged by regular studies in pre-K, Powers said.

“The charter school focuses on science and computers, things he’s really into. It just looked like a really good program,” Powers said.

Harmony Science Academy is slated to open in the old Dunlaps building, 2755 N. Grandview, this August, and was recently awarded a charter request by the Texas Education Agency. Since receiving their first charter in 2000, Tarim said they open about five schools a year around the state; they are opening seven this year in Texas, including this one in Odessa.

Initially, news of the new charter school was met with protests from the West Texas Patriots, a small local political group who alleged that Harmony schools have ties to Islamic extremists. After the initial flurry caused by their claims, the protesters have disappeared and Harmony is moving closer to opening its doors as students are randomly selected to fill places in the lottery.

There were 517 applications submitted to Harmony Science Academy and 300 places available. The administrators decided to hold a lottery, drawing numbers out of a fish bowl for each grade, because it seemed like the fairest way to select the students.

The school initially planned to fill just 250 spots, but administrators decided to make it 300 after they saw the amount of community interest, Tarim said. There were 50 students selected for kindergarten through second grade, and just 25 spots each grade from third to eighth grade.

Students whose numbers came up in the lottery have until July 16 to submit their paperwork to the school. After this date, any open spots will be filled by starting at the top of the waiting list, Tarim said.

About 150 people attended the charter school lottery, which was held in a lecture hall at University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

Harmony principal Hasan Sazci looked giddy with delight as he surveyed possible Harmony students.

“It’s so exciting. These are the children who are going to make up our school,” Sazci said, with wide, open smile.

Parent Anna De La Cruz was one of the first to apply for a place at the charter school and she said she was excited to know her son would be going to school there.

“I think it’s going to be a great experience for him. It’ll be more entertaining, more involved and more challenging. It was just something new so we thought we’d try it,” De La Cruz said.

BY DIANNA WRAY
Odessa American