American Indian Model Schools

American Indian Model Schools (AIM Schools) is a charter school system based in Oakland, California. Started with the American Indian Public Charter School, a middle school in the late 1990s to serve Native American students, in 2007 it expanded to include another middle school and a high school. The main campus is in the Laurel area and includes American Indian Public Charter School (AICPS), a middle school of grades 5-8, and American Indian Public High School (AIPHS), a high school (9-12). AIPHS students can also take select classes at Merritt College. American Indian Public Charter School II (AIPCS II) has grades K-8 at a second campus located in Oakland's Chinatown. By 2012 the student population of the AIM schools had become 90% Asian American.

The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) granted the charter to the school system and oversees it. The American Indian Model School system has its own school board and internal policies.

Under the leadership of Ben Chavis (Lumbee), a Native American professor, AIPCS students made considerable progress in academic scores from 2000 to 2007, and enrollment increased at the school. The first middle school, AIPCS ,received national recognition in 2007. Some of Chavis's disciplinary methods and his treatment of students and teachers generated controversy, and he resigned as principal in 2007. But the board voted to maintain him in an influential executive role at the school and with the model school system. In 2012 Chavis ended his ties with the charter system (although his children remained as students) and returned to his home state of North Carolina.

For a period, the charter system's charter from the OUSD was at risk, but the school gained a court injunction in 2012 to allow it to continue to operate. With the change in management and in view of the students' achievements in academic scores, the Model School system's charter was renewed in 2013 for a 5-year term. This included an expansion to serve grades K-4 at AIPCS II.

Established as a small charter school to serve Native American students in Oakland, AICPS had difficulty improving academic performance from its founding in 1996 until after 2000. That year Ben Chavis (Lumbee), was recruited as principal of the school. He recruited new teachers and imposed strong discipline and study protocols. Test scores increased dramatically over the next several years and student enrollment also increased. Student demographics changed, reflecting the diverse population with more students of Asian, African American and Latino ancestry.

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