Menifee school board reviews petition for new charter school

Administrators from a new charter school that plans to use the outdoors as its classroom and give students real-world learning adventures through community service and project-based curriculum, presented their plans to Menifee Union School District board members at a public hearing Tuesday.

Aberdovey Charter School, which will serve grades kindergarten through eighth, is petitioning to be directly funded by the district; and has already received a $450,000 implementation grant from the California Department of Education, according to Robyn Rogers, lead petitioner and school administrator.

Modeled after Kurt Hahn’s Outward Bound program, the name Aberdovey comes from the first school of its kind in Aberdovey, Wales. The school anticipates an enrollment of 275 students, and Rogers said it already has 75 students on an interest list. It would employ 13 teachers, one administrator and two office staff.

The public hearing for the charter followed the district’s receipt earlier this month of the school’s petition, and board members were full of questions for the school that hopes to make its home in the district.

“This is step one in a long process,” said Betti Cadmus, spokeswoman for the district.

Board members asked if the grade levels would be mixed, where the curriculum would come from, where the facility would be located and the qualifications of the administration and the teaching staff.

Board member Rita Peters, asked if Rogers, who plans to be the administrator, had any experience in a school administrative position; and if the staff had any experience teaching at the charter school level. Rogers said she has one year experience teaching at the charter school level, and no experience as an administrator.

Peters questioned whether Rogers, who received her teaching credential in Oregon, had ever taught in California.

“This is a whole different world here. We have API’s and AYP’s,” Peters said.

Rogers said that although she has yet to teach in California, she feels strongly about the team of teachers the school has assembled.

Board member Jerry Bowman, spoke of recent studies showing that only 17 to 20 percent of charter schools perform better than public schools, and at least 35 percent do not perform as well, he said.

“It is very important that our students get the best education,” Bowman said.

Santa Rosa Academy is currently the only charter school in the Menifee district, according to Katey Hoehn, director of categorical programs. Another charter school, Classical Academy, was denied by the board last year.

Steven Holguin, California Charter School Association’s Inland Empire assistant general manager, spoke on behalf of Aberdovey at the hearing.

“Not only do they meet state standards, but they exceed them,” Holguin said. “They are a model team and I strongly encourage a second charter school in the Menifee community.”

Rogers said there were a lot of positives that came out of the hearing.

“The board has asked for clarifications, which they will see in the petition. I think they are certainly listening, and their job is to make sure they are approving a viable school. We are not a fly-by-night school,” she said.

If the board does not approve Aberdovey, Rogers said she will appeal. The board is set to announce its decision at its Dec. 8 meeting.

Board Member Randy Freeman said he has yet to form an opinion on the school.

“Charter schools serve a purpose, and all of this is just part of the decision-making process. We have a long way to go before Dec. 8,” Freeman said.

Maggie Avants is the education editor for SWRNN. Comments or story suggestions can be sent to mavants.swrnn@gmail.com.

Tags: Aberdovey Charter School, Betti Cadmus, California Department of Education, Jerry Bowman, menifee union school district, Rita Peters, SWRNN

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 11:20 pm and is filed under Education, Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.