On Tuesday, November 8, a group of parents and community leaders from the Eastside Memorial Vertical Team traveled by bus to Donna, Texas for a site visit to IDEA College Prep (Donna), IDEA Public School's flagship campus.

Founded in 2000, the campus has grown from 75 to 1,407 students, and recently celebrated its second year in a row graduating 100% of its seniors.

The twenty-two parents, grandparents, teachers, parent support specialists and community members met and interviewed students, parents, teachers and administrators at the current IDEA school.

The trip gave these members of the Vertical Team a chance to observe, analyze and evaluate how an IDEA in-district charter school might fit in their neighborhood. Some of the parents who participated in the site visit volunteered to share their thoughts and impressions at the November 16 community meeting on academic options for the Eastside Vertical Team.