Charter Start-up Grant Submitted

On Oct 31 our grant application of $651,950 was submitted to the State Department of Education for three years of charter startup funds. The budget is subject to negotiation at the time of award.

Most interesting was developing a set of project goals for school opening, as opposed to the school itself:

The 5 goals below relate to the Charter and focus on the process of launching a successful school:

1. Recruit and retain both highly qualified school staff and qualified school governing and advisory boards and develop their understanding and practice of the Expeditionary Learning model.
2. Recruit a diverse student body including economically disadvantaged and ethnic minorities, expand enrollment, and move toward sound self-sustaining business operations.
3. Develop and refine curriculum, including Learning Expeditions aligned to state standards, acquire technology, furniture and necessary materials to effectively implement a high quality curriculum.
4. Develop and refine criteria for assessing meaningful communication and involvement with the local community and communicate that understanding through school activities.
5. As set out in Tab 4 of the Charter, the percentage of students (grades 3-8) who receive a score of Proficient or above across all required subjects measured by the ISAT will within five (5) years and thereafter meet or exceed the similar fraction computed in the Moscow School District.