Early Conn. charter school founder dies

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A onetime teacher and Hartford school board president who founded one of Connecticut's first charter schools has died at age 87.

Thelma Ellis Dickerson's son says she died last Saturday, and that funeral services are scheduled this weekend.

Dickerson was active in the NAACP in the 1960s and was a teacher and school administrator in Hartford.

She served 14 years on Hartford's school board and started the Jumoke Academy charter school in 1997.

The school now has almost 500 students and is commonly cited by education officials as a model for other charter schools based on its programs and students' achievement.

Dickerson's son, Michael Sharpe, is now Jumoke's executive officer. He tells the Hartford Courant the school is his mother's legacy to the city and its children.