New charter school in the works for Dallas County; Texas owners post survey seeking public input 

A new Charter School is in the works for Dallas County.   

Innovations Leadership Academy is the brainchild of twin brothers Marcus and Markee Baskerville. They said they have a vision and a passion to bring innovative learning techniques to education in this post-pandemic era.   

The Baskerville brothers live in Dallas County, Texas. Marcus has been in education in various roles since 2000 and is principal of a charter school there. A trained grant writer, Markee is currently heading up a nonprofit involved in education. He has been a teacher working with community-based before- and after-school programs.  

The brothers researched the possibility of opening a charter school in Texas, but they found that Texas and California are saturated with charter schools. As they continued to research where to take their innovative education model, Marcus said, “Based on the data, Dallas County, Alabama needs help, and the state is not filled with charter schools already.” And since it is also Dallas County, “It spoke to me,” Marcus said.  

Marcus said they have two other partners, both with long histories in education. He said he will be moving to Dallas County, Alabama, to run the school while his brother and the other two partners will stay in Texas.  

Although a charter school must meet state minimum requirements, Markee explained charter schools are “not tied to the school district’s boards or rules. We can be innovative.” Charter schools operate through the public school system. The Baskervilles said a charter school is ideal for parents who want a private school education for their kids but may not be able to afford the tuition.  

The school would be for kindergarten through eighth grade students. “You have to build the smaller kids first before you get to middle or high school,” Marcus said. “In the future, moving into high school is a possibility.”  

The Innovations Leadership Academy program is based on a blended learning model that uses digital learning objectives and active learning methods to improve the experience and learning outcome for the students, according to Marcus. He said all learning is on campus. The digital component involves using laptops and iPads for some lessons along with “face to face,” in-class learning.  

Marcus said teachers in their charter school will have a certain measure of autonomy. They will constantly monitor the students to see how they best learn. They understand that some kids learn better on their own, and some need more nurturing. The teacher will be able to tailor the learning experience to the student’s strengths.  

“But that active, aggressive monitoring is the key,” Marcus said. “If they see a student is struggling with the individualized component, then the teacher will step in and help them a little bit more to make sure they get that information.” 

Class sizes will be small compared to class sizes in many schools. “We want to keep the classes between 15 and 20 students, but the ideal size would be 18,” Marcus said. The goal is for the school to have 162 students the first year. The maximum capacity will be 486 students.  

Markee said they will be teaching “the three Rs” – reading writing and arithmetic – but they will do it in creative, innovative ways. They will also teach subjects for the modern world, like computer coding, Artificial Intelligence and how to run a business.   

As an example, Markee said, “We would like to do a store where the kids could learn entrepreneurial skills and responsibility. They would learn how to know how much product is on the shelf and what does it take to move it, how much does it cost to put it there, how much will it cost the customer.”   

Marcus said they also will include art and physical education “and teach the students about getting and staying healthy.” He explained that the time is set up in the day for “math, reading, social studies and history and things of that nature,” so there would be an after-school program for music and maybe even a flag football team. 

Dallas County, Alabama, would be their flagship school, with the possibility of expanding from here to other areas around the state.   

Marcus said placing the school in a renovated building would work, but he said his vision is to have a new building. “It helps with the morale, it helps with the climate and culture,” Marcus said. “It helps with everything.”   

The Baskerville brothers said teachers would be hired from the local community. They would go through an extensive vetting process to be sure they are the best teachers for the students and that they are on board with the new methods. They also said teachers will have to be willing to help students when they need help, even if that is after school hours.  

The goal is for Innovations Learning Academy to be open for the 2025 school year. Currently, they are getting approval from the state. They are also asking the public to fill out a survey to help measure the interest in a charter school in Dallas County. A link to the survey can be found on their website at www.innovationsschools.org. There will be an in-person meeting soon to answer parents’ questions.