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Tami Geiger from the Sonoma Charter School took first place in the 7th-8th grade spelling bee held at the end of March, 2000. She won the final round by correctly spelling "miscellaneous" and goes on to participate in the county finals in May. Sonoma Charter School was one of six California Charter School Award Winners to receive CANEC's Innovations for Excellence in Education Award in April 2000.
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Principal Irasema Salcido of the Cesar Chavez Public Charter High School in Washington, DC has clear expectations for her students: "We want everyone of these kids to go to a good college and come back and lead their communities." Philanthropy magazine tells the story of Chavez student Tiah Suggs who "struggled through a middle school mired in violence and low expectations. Tiah and her mother took the plunge and signed up for a school that had never before existed." The difference to students at Chavez was clear form the first day: Teachers are glad to be there, and are implementing a tough standards-based curriculum heavy on homework, and, despite the rigor -- or because of it -- parental satisfaction is high. For the first time ever, Tiah and her mother are confident that Tiah is getting a world-class education, and she's set her sights on a college degree, which would be a first for her family.
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Life Learning Academy, a charter school located on an island, serves severely at-risk students. Most arriving students can't read, and have a history of abuse or criminal records. Consider Cory: after becoming part of the juvenile justice system as a high school freshman, Cory heard about the San Francisco Life Learning Academy and begged his way into the school. Just one year later Cory has more than one college offering him scholarships. After two years at the school, the typical student has a "strong GPA, can fight fires, repair bikes, speak Japanese or Spanish, run a small business, build building, prepare meals from scratch (including growing the food), use a computer, express thoughts and see beyond the street corner," reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
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Here's what one student had to tell CER about her charter school experience: "I am currently enrolled in the TEAMS Charter School located in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. There are approximately 100 students enrolled in the program. These students are spread out between the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. I think this is a great help with assessments and parents can and do play a big part in helping us complete our education. I think that charter schools are a very good way to get an education because there is more student-teacher contact. In the program we are not just a number, each one of us is a person with a name. Thank you for reading my e-mail about our charter school and I hope there will be more [charter schools] coming soon around the United States to help kids everywhere." -- Jessie P.
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Three cheers for the Robert Treat Academy Charter School in Newark, NJ, whose Spring, 1999 Stanford Achievement scores posted higher than the national median in every subject in grades K-2. The school has a traditional approach, and boasts 85% monthly participation in meetings by parents, versus an estimated 50% for other local schools. The academy does more staff training than the local district, and offers children 210 days a year. The student body is diverse and dedicated. Plans are underway to expand and build a new facility. Robert Treat is advised by Seton Hall education school professor Jim Caulfield, a 43-year veteran of the public schools. For more information, you may call the school directly at 973-482-8811.
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Kudos to Philadelphia's Universal Institute Charter School and its founder Kenny Gamble, a well-known song writer who has banded together a group of old friends to revitalize the depressed south Philly neighborhood where he grew up. The Universal Charter School serves 300 K-8 children with a very charter-like mix of academics and partnerships with cultural institutions. About the school and its part in helping the neighborhood, Gamble's partner told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "This is a comprehensive approach to redevelopment, and that means adults and children equipped with the skills to go beyond the norm. The goal is to challenge the status quo, to use the resources within the community to rebuild it, family by family."
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The Vaughn Next Century Charter School is truly the "little school that could." Now it will be the "bigger school that can do more." Vaughn has experience in rejuvenating communities and is currently building a new center to house middle school students which will aid in easing overcrowding in the greater Los Angeles school district. They've also celebrated the addition of a health and community center and new library over the last few years. "We figured out a way to build new schools faster, cheaper and better," Vaughn Principal Yvonne Chan told the LA Times. "We built one building and then started digging for another."
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Tune in! Students from Oceanside Charter School in Atlantic City are recording songs for a CD project to be completed in conjunction with Platinum Sound Recording Studios. The students' first release, entitled "It's Tough Being A Kid," explores the challenges young people face in their homes, schools, and communities. Proceeds will benefit the completion of the school's new facility. Plans are already in the works to promote the song on well-known radio stations in the New York and Philadelphia areas.
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The School for Arts in Learning is a Public Charter School of Washington, DC that provides an alternative learning environment, ten months out of the year, that encourages students to achieve their maximum potential while developing an awareness of the role of the arts in their daily lives. SAIL’s mission is to provide an appropriate individualized education for students from kindergarten through third grade (by 2001, through fifth grade), focusing on children who have learning disabilities or special learning styles that make it difficult for them to succeed in traditional classroom settings. For more information visit SAIL's web page at the WVSA Arts Website, or call (202) 296-9100. Log in to iVillage.com's online charter chat , to hear SAIL's Mary Cannole and others discuss on the charter experience.
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In the Verona School District, the Core Knowledge Charter School has taken it to heart that parental participation enhances the quality of education for children. They hold regular Parent Round Table meetings, the last of which was attended by about 70 parents. The Governing Council of the school will continue to hold an ambitious schedule of meetings all year. For more information, contact Jane Jung at 608-278-0755.
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The Thomas Jefferson Charter School has faced rough going in its efforts to open in Illinois over the past few years. The school was turned down by 12 school boards, eventually allowed to appeal to the State board, then permitted to open but obfuscated by city councils, zoning boards and others possibly under the influence of unions. But TJ, with a curriculum focused on Core Knowledge and Direct Instruction, finally opened mid-September in a huge downtown Chicago public school on the Northwest side (after being forced out of all the suburbs, and out of District 59 where it was finally authorized). The charter owes its success to sheer tenacity, fighting for a chance to demonstrate that they can and will succeed rather than see another generation lost to the kind of political, non-substantive and bureaucratic bickering that is so plentiful in the districts these teachers and parents chose to vacate. Find out more about their program at http://www.beaconedu.com.
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KIPP Academy, a Houston charter school, boasts the highest passing rates on the Texas assessment test of any middle school in the city. Its students score in the 81st percentile nationwide in math on the Stanford-9. It achieves these remarkable results with a student body that is 90 percent Hispanic and 95 percent low-income. Read more at "Texas Charter School Tops in the State, Low-Income and Minority Students Outperform More Privileged Peers," Parent Power, May 1999.
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In August, 1999, Ryder System Incorporated dedicated the Ryder Elementary Charter School, the nation's first charter school-in-the-workplace. Florida Governor Jeb Bush said at the opening ceremonies, "Education of our children is critical to Florida’s future and Ryder is to be commended for its dedication to improving the quality of education. Ryder Elementary Charter School demonstrates Ryder's commitment to its employees and the community it serves."
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Bright Beginnings School's 5th graders scored in the 85th percentile in the 1999 Stanford 9 language assessment and in the 88th percentile in reading. In 1998, the charter school's 5th graders achieved an overall ranking in the 74 percentile on the Stanford 9. Bright Beginnings provides a warm, accepting and challenging learning environment to improve pupil achievement by offering computer instruction, Spanish, music, art, literacy development, mathematics, science, social studies and physical education. The charter opened its doors in 1996 and serves the city of Chandler, AZ. Visit their website at: http://www.brightbeginnings.k12.az.us/
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July 1999 marked the first-ever graduation of Massachusetts charter school students, City on a Hill Charter School in Boston, MA. The charter’s combination of rigorous academic standards and a commitment to community service has prepared its graduates for continued success in the future.
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The New Frontiers Charter School in San Antonio, TX has realized significant gains on standardized tests. Kindergartners scored in the 94th percentile nationally in reading and all other grades showed significant advancement since they were first tested in the fall. The school is run by Advantage Schools, a private company that operates about a dozen other charter schools nationwide. More ...
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In 1999 the Core Knowledge Charter School, located outside Denver, became what many experts say is the first charter school in the country to be rated by Standard & Poor's. The roughly 300-student school received an investment-grade rating for a $2.8 million bond. The company's top rating is AAA; the charter school received a BBB rating. The rating signals a stamp of approval of sorts for investors and is likely to bring with it a lower interest rate, paving the way for a new school building, to replace its original location a strip mall in Parker, CO.
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CER salutes The Arizona School for the Arts (ASA), a charter school where performing arts are combined with rigorous academics. Principle Dr. Mark Francis should be commended for the success of the class of 1999, which received more than $50,000 in merit scholarships, with all thirteen graduates going on to attend universities. To contact ASA, call 602-257-1444.
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Achievement for children is everything, and there's a particular charter school in North Carolina that's devoted serving at-risk students, and helping them achieve. Healthy Start Academy posted the biggest gains of any school in the Tar-heel State, with 99% of it's children having met or exceeded the standard. That's because Healthy Start is a charter school, devoted to serving at-risk youth. You can reach them by calling Tom Williams at 919-956-5599. For more on this school and its students' noteworthy accomplishments, go http://www.noexcuses.org/articles/032600washtimes.html.
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