April 8, 2003

Contact:
Jennifer Meriam, Director (954) 262-5355
Mike Laderman, Associate Director, (954) 262-5354
Mara Kiffin, Coordinator, (954) 262-5350

NSU’s Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services Receives Doe Grant to Implement Choice Resource Center

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL— Nova Southeastern University's Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services announced that it will develop the South Florida Choice Resource Center at NSU's campus in North Miami Beach.

The Resource Center, the first in South Florida, will be funded from the federal USDOE Voluntary Public School Choice Grant, awarded to the Florida Department of Education's CHOICE Office, which heads up the state effort for all forms of school choice. The $200,000 grant is part of a five-year federal grant program that the Florida Department of Education won in competition with other states and districts throughout the nation.

"The SFCRC will provide training opportunities and support to school and district administrators, teachers, and parents regarding magnet and charter schools, career academies, and other schools of public choice in South Florida," said H. Wells Singleton, Ph.D., Fischler's education provost and dean. "Of particular interest, it will also provide a Parent Resource Center to help parents understand their options."

Plans to develop a website and online training modules for school choice professionals is underway at NSU's FGSEHS, one of the leading distance education universities in America.

The SFCRC will be part of the National Institute for Education Options, directed by Judith S. Stein, Ed.D. Stein is also the Executive Director of Magnet Schools of America, an international membership organization for magnet schools. Magnet professionals will also be assisted in their professional development by this grant. Stein is the former director of the magnet school office in Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Stein said the first task of the new SFCRC will be to distribute emails with information on grants and issues, changes in state and federal laws, current events, and other important news to the professionals of public schools of choice. This will be facilitated by Phyllis M. Olmstead, Ed.D, the Education Options Administrator at FGSEHS.

Nova Southeastern University, with its main campus in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is the largest independent institution of higher education in the Southeast United States, and the 12th largest nationally. The Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services has been a world leader for more than 30 years in distance graduate education for educators, organizational leaders, and human service providers. FGSEHS has more than 11,000 students in graduate education programs across the country, including both online programs and live classes in more than 50 cities, 22 states, and 9 foreign countries.

For more information, contact Olmstead at (954) 262-8717 or olmstead@nova.edu