| University of Houston Charter School | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Melcher Gymnasium, which housed the charter school offices | |
| Location | |
 | |
3855 Holman Street , 77204 | |
| Coordinates | 29°43′31″N95°20′54″W / 29.725268°N 95.348197°W |
| Information | |
| School type | Public elementary |
| Opened | 1997 |
| Closed | 2021 |
| Grades | K-5 |
| Gender | Coed |
| Campus type | state charter school |
| Website | uh |
University of Houston Charter School (UCHS) was a state charter primary school located in the Melcher Gymnasium 100 at 3855 Holman Street in Houston, Texas, United States. The school was operated by the University of Houston. [1] The university operated the school in affiliation with its Human Development Laboratory School. [2] The Texas State Board of Education chartered the school. [3] Circa 2002, it was the only school counted by the U.S. Census Bureau as a "dependent school system" (that is, dependent on another layer of government) in Texas. [4]
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The school first opened on January 29, 1997. [5] It was one of the nineteen schools to be granted the first school charters under Texas law. In 2007 it had almost 130 students. [6] Historically the maximum enrollment was 138. [3]
The education program emphasized problem solving and was known as "constructivist". [6] The UH board annually spent $268,000 to operate the school. [3]
In December 2020 the principal alerted parents that the board would consider whether to close the school, catching some parents off guard. [7] That month the UH board voted to close the school due to problems with the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas and general financial problems. By December 2020 enrollment was down to 89, and the school had a shortage of employees. The charter was scheduled to expire in July 2021, when the institution would ordinarily have applied for renewal. The school was closed on July 31, 2021. [3] [8]
