Hillsborough County Charter

the Florida Charter School Resource

Center

Back Row:

KC Williams (Rebirth Academy), George Shaw

(Central City Academy), Joanne Shaw (Pepin Academy), Geri

Kelly (USF Charter School), David Myers (Eastside

Multicultural) & Colleen Galimore (Tampa Bay Academy).

Seated: Cathy Healan (North Tampa Alternative), Cametra

Reed (Village of Excellence) & Jeanette Anderson (Rebirth

Academy).

The Hillsborough County

Charter Schools

Principal’s Council

held their January meeting at

the Florida Charter School Resource Center

(FCSRC).

This Council first began to meet

several years ago, on a less formal basis, to

share information and support each other’s

efforts.

As the demands of charter school

leadership have expanded, the mutual sharing

and support of this group has grown into a valued

resource for these charter school leaders.

Their

monthly agenda is diverse, ranging from

policy/procedure issues, to teacher-of-the-year

awards, to investigating shared packages for

employee benefit and insurance programs in

order to help reduce costs.

Joanne Nelson, Tampa Bay Academy Charter

School, was one of the founding principals of this

Council; Geri Kelly, USF Charter School, is the

current chairperson for the council.

Questions or

comments about the Hillsborough County

Charter

Schools Principal’s Council

may be addressed to

any of the Hillsborough County charter school

principals.

Their contact information is available

at www.floridaschoolchoice.org.

Submitted by the Florida Charter School

Resource Center.

Regional Workshops Planned for March

The following regional workshops will be hosted

by the Florida Charter School Resource Center

(FCSRC). Exact dates for the workshops have yet

to be determined.

of each workshop are included below. Please

contact FCSRC at

1-800-214-4247

for more

information.

Reaching Your Audience Via the Web

•

Identify

functional Web sites.

Brief descriptions of the content

and

effective

of

characteristics

•

?

Develop skills needed to create a charter

school Web site as a communication and

marketing tool.

•

?

Insert digital files, including photographs, onto

a web page.

•

Identify strategies to showcase student work.

•

?

Understand how to manage and update

school’s Web site.

Alternate Assessment

•

?

Alternate Assessment for Students With

Disabilities

This workshop addresses requirements for

exemption from state and district

assessments, accommodations and

modifications and alternate assessments

.

•

?

Alternate Assessment Beyond the FCAT

This workshop focuses on a variety of

strategies to measure student gains. These

strategies include performance tests in the

classroom, portfolios as a means of

demonstrating progress, curriculum based

measures and value-added systems of

tracking student progress.

•

?

Alternate Assessment Without the FCAT

The morning portion of this workshop will

focus on assessment tools for Exceptional

Education Students in grades 6-12.

The

afternoon portion will focus on commercial

assessment products that are appropriate for

both younger and older students.

Special Education

Train the Trainers

Workshop

•

?

Recognize the characteristics of adult learners

and integrate this knowledge when preparing

in-service training.

•

?

Utilize a variety of instructional tools including

activities and PowerPoint presentations.

•

?

Understand the foundation of federal special

education laws, with an emphasis on IDEA

and 504.

•

?

Understand Florida laws and be able to

access information related to serving students

with disabilities.

---

Projected Charter School Capital

for 2003-2004

According to projections by the Florida

Department of Education, Florida’s charter school

population is expected to grow by 25,000 students

in 2003-2004. This would bring Florida’s total

charter school population to 71,152 students.

The cost of providing full capital outlay funding for

Demonstration Program that has given five entities

millions of dollars to assist charter schools.

This program allows these entities to demonstrate

innovative credit enhancement strategies that assist

charter schools in leveraging private sector and

other non-federal capital.

The funds will be placed

in a reserve account, which will then be used to

attract other capital, such as bank loans or bonds, to

address the cost of acquiring, constructing or

renovating charter schools.

The reserve account

funds cannot be used for the direct purchase, lease,

these students would be

renovation or construction of

€

$69,288,207. If these

school buildings.

€

students were funded at

€

the current levels, the

Please contact the following

€

total cost would be

groups for more information:

€

$41,829,562.

€

•

America’s Charter School

s that are

operating for the 2002-2003 school year,

serving 684,495 students in 36 states and

Washington, D.C.

--Center for Education Reform

Cost per student at

€

current

levels vs. cost per student at

fully funded

€

levels:

€

Elementary:

$526

Elementary:

$871

€

Middle:

$603

Middle:

$999

€

High:

$797

High:

$1,321

€

Charter School Federal Facility

Legislation Update

In the

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

,

provisions were passed, but not funded, for

enhanced charter school facility funding.

These

initiatives included:

Incentive matching grants to encourage states to

start or expand programs that provide per pupil

funding for charter school facilities (on top of

general operating revenues), and continuation

and expansion of the existing charter facilities

demonstration program (see more information

below).

President Bush allocated $100 million in his 2003

budget for charter school facility financing.

Congress has yet to act on this proposal, but is

expected to after the holiday break.

*

Information supplied by the Charter Friends

National Network Facilities Financing E-

Facility Financing

Demonstration Grants

Many charter schools have called the

Accountability Center looking for facility financing

options.

The federal government has funded the

Charter Schools Facilities Financing

Corporation (781-849-

8420)

•

Charter Schools Development Corporation

(202-739-9579)

•

?

Low Income Housing Fund

(510-893-3811)

•

?

NCB Development Corporation

(202-336-7677)

•

?

Raza Development Fund, Inc.

(602-417-1402)

*

Information supplied by the U.S. Department of

Education web site.

For more information on charter school facilities and

other charter school accountability information,

please visit our website at http://csac.fsu.edu and

click on “resources”.

Texas Instrument Foundation Offers

Various Grants

The Texas Instrument (TI) Foundation awards

grants on a competitive basis to various groups with

a particular emphasis on education. Grants usually

range from $5,000 to $10,000, though some

schools have been awarded up to $100,000. There

are no specific applications or deadlines, rather

applicants are encouraged to submit one or two

page proposals which briefly outline the purpose of

the organization, population served, amount

requested, how the requested funds will be used,

how the proposal matches funding interests of the

TI Foundation, and a copy of the group’s 501 (c) (3)

designation.

For more information, visit the Texas Instrument

Foundation website at

www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/citizen/foundation.

---

--

--

--

Youths' words ease

grown-up concerns

By Emily Minor, Palm Beach Post Columnist

If you are worried about the world

which

sometimes happens when a big nation such as

ours heads off to war

I'm here to reassure you

that everything's OK. I know this because of two

middle-school students named Travis Moore and

Adam Kenneway.

Moore and Kenneway are 13-year-old boys,

which means their substantial appetites, unmade

beds and video game addictions are the stuff of

which good cartoon strips are made. Yet, there

they were Wednesday, all gussied up, getting

awards from an important guy dressed in a suit

handing out business cards.

Moore and Kenneway, who last year were

seventh-graders at Roosevelt Middle School,

entered a national essay contest

at the urging

of teacher Miguel Benavente. Isn't that what good

teachers are paid to do? Urge.

The assignment? Write about someone who

inspired you. Both boys chose a parent.

Moore wrote about his mother, Sherry, an

epileptic since she was 16 years old. Kenneway

wrote about his dad, Norm, who was diagnosed

with cancer when his son was 2 years old.

And what these kids wrote was plucked directly

from their young, tender hearts. Ask technology

coordinator Debbie Williams. She was supposed

to be taking pictures with the fancy digital camera,

but she was having a little trouble. Tears in her

eyes.

From Travis Moore's essay: My mother has

endured much. She has inspired our church in a

definite way; anyone will testify to that. She has

inspired my family to a huge extent, and I know

that she will do this forever. My mommy has

inspired me and she always will, and I will forever

be in debt to her for her gift of compassion to me.

She has gone through so much yet she still has a

heart for others. Especially me, her son.

Benavente, one of those teachers whose name is

always up on the marquee outside school for

winning this or that, said he found the contest

when he was online looking for different outlets for

the kids. The contest,

Sharing the Spirit

, was

started by the

V Foundation for Cancer Research

in the name of Jim Valvano, a beloved basketball

coach at North Carolina State and former ESPN

commentator who died of cancer in 1993.

Valvano's brother Nick said initially they were going

to do all the awards by mail. Then he saw what had

come from the kids at this one particular school in

West Palm Beach.

Fifteen of the 25 finalists were from Roosevelt, and

all the entries were so awe-inspiring that Valvano

flew down to give Kenneway and Moore their gifts.

Kenneway, now at the Palm Beach Maritime

Academy, won second place; Moore third place.

Each got a Palm Pilot and a signed copy of a recent

biography about Coach V.

Everyone was there Wednesday, making a hubbub

in the far corner of the school library. Moore's

parents. Kenneway's mother, Debbie. Everyone but

Norm Kenneway. Adam's dad lost his long struggle

with cancer last March, months after his son had sat

and thought and written his essay about the one

person who had always inspired him. Always. His

dad.

He thinks about others' well-being before he thinks

about his own. An example of this would be, he will

always make sure people will wear a jacket if it is

cold outside and give up his own if someone doesn't

have one. So if you are feeling bad or depressed,

Norman will make you feel better.

The world might not be fair. But it's been passed by

great people into awfully good hands.

Reprinted from the Palm Beach Post

Roosevelt Community Middle School offers magnet

programs in Pre-Engineering, Environmental

Science, Pre-Med and Technology.

Public magnet

schools provide an alternative to comprehensive high

schools. They offer theme-based programs of study,

standards-based curriculum, connections between the

business and industry and the academic world and

highly-trained, motivated faculty.

Five Priorities of the

Florida Department

of Education

�

 

Improving

achievement, especially in reading

�

 

Improving teacher quality and capacity

�

 

Providing

-friendly

information to parents and citizens

�

 

quality

through college

�

 

Creating

-

focused Department of Education that

is more productive and accessible to

educators, parents, students, and the

public

and

learning

user

for

options

and

choices

kindergarten

in

customer

responsive,

a

---

Under the Federal Public Charter Schools Program

(PCSP) states may make dissemination subgrants to

successful charter schools, on a competitive basis, to

assist other schools in adapting the charter school's

program or to disseminate information about the

charter school. In addition, the Public Charter

Schools Program provides funds to states for the

purpose of awarding grants to charter schools

partnering with local chartering agencies to provide a

high quality education for all students.

A charter school may use the Public Charter Schools

Federal Grant Program—2002-2003 Dissemination

Grant award to assist other schools in adapting the

charter school’s program (or certain aspects of the

charter school’s program), or to disseminate

information about the charter school, through such

activities as:

• Assisting other individuals with the planning and

startup of one or more new public schools, including

charter schools, that are independent of the assisting

charter school and the assisting charter school’s

developers, and that agree to be held to at least as

high a level of accountability as the assisting charter

school.

• Developing partnerships with other public schools to

serve as mentors, including charter schools,

designed to improve student performance in each of

the schools participating in the partnership;

• Developing curriculum materials, assessments, and

other materials that promote increased student

achievement and are based on best practices within

the assisting charter school;

• Conducting evaluations and developing materials

that document the best practices of the assisting

charter school and that are designed to improve

student achievement; and

• Developing professional development models which

may address governance, personnel issues, finance

and accounting, and accreditation methodology.The

Public Charter Schools Program (PCSP) is

authorized under Title X, Part C of the Elementary

as amended by the

a

Charter School Expansion Act of 1998.

nd Secondary Education Act,

The following Florida Charter Schools were awarded

2002-2003 Dissemination Grants.

Alachua Learning Center

(Alachua County)

The Alachua Learning Center (ALC) seeks to create

a community and family centered learning

environment with a low student-staff ratio utilizing

performance-based, incremental learning curriculum

for elementary and middle school students (K-8).

The school brings economically depressed and

minority populations, at risk of school failure, to the

top of the educational ladder.

Dissemination:

The school proposes to

disseminate their best practices in curriculum

development, FCAT test preparation, building a

culture of reading, developing school-wide

multidisciplinary learning projects, meal program

development, and community outreach through

multicultural and service learning fairs.

Einstein Montessori School

(Alachua County)

Einstein Montessori School (EMS) is dedicated to

creating a rich, individualized learning environment

for children who have experienced language-

processing disorders affecting their ability to read,

write and spell. Building basic reading and language

skills, using research-based systems and the most

modern technology available, drives the curriculum

and instructional model.

Dissemination:

The project includes dissemination

of the outstanding and nationally recognized literacy

program, its highly effective business management

strategies, the collaborative teaching techniques,

the assessment practices, and the partnership

building techniques.

Expressions Learning Arts Academy

(Alachua

County)

Expressions Learning Arts Academy (E.L.A.A.)

utilizes the skills acquired in artistic modalities to

refine cognitive ability and promote the acquisition

of self-discipline.

E.L.A.A. promotes academic

achievement by incorporating the arts into the basic

curriculum driven by Sunshine State Standards.

Dissemination:

The school proposes to

disseminate best practices in curriculum

development; FCAT preparation; preparing for

accreditation by SACS; teaching strategies for

greatest individual achievement; strategies for

introducing the arts, music, drama and dance into

the curriculum; charter school development,

management, and financing; and establishing

outreach to the business, and educational

communities.

Central Charter School

(Broward County)

Central Charter School provides an enriched

innovative educational program focusing on reading,

writing, mathematics, and language arts for 'at-risk'

students.

Dissemination:

The Florida Charter Schools

Mentor Project assists fledgling charter schools in

school management and accountability. CCS and its

partner schools will assist their "buddy" schools by

building on their successful past experience of

mentoring charter schools, allowing them to become

successful and viable education entities.

---

Somerset Charter School

(Broward County)

Somerset Charter School strives toward a multi-age

learning environment that allows students to learn

and progress at their own pace; small class sizes to

offer students more individualized instruction; and a

parental obligation to ensure that parents actively

participate in his/her child's education.

Dissemination:

This project disseminates The

Florida Power Standards Project,

a method of

developing a standards-based curriculum and

student assessment system.

Smart School

(Broward County)

Smart School strives to improve academic

performance, self-esteem, and social responsibility

of all students by empowering and connecting them

to broader curriculums and communities through

computer/communication technology.

Dissemination:

The Smart School Teacher

Retention and Leadership Development Plan

identifies teachers with at least three years

experience and provides opportunities to develop

their leadership skills. A Professional Development

Committee of teachers identify instructional needs

of the faculty and make recommendations to the

administration for all professional in-services

throughout the school year.

Eastside Multicultural Community School

(Hillsborough County)

Eastside Multicultural Community School provides

an interactive learning environment that upholds the

Florida Sunshine State Standards, a multicultural

perspective, character development, critical

thinking, and technological skills. The school infuses

multicultural material from Native American,

Hispanic, Asian, Caribbean, and other cultures into

the curriculum.

Dissemination:

The school uses Talents Unlimited

and the Florida Institute for Peace Education and

Research (Talents/FIPER) professional

development methodologies to train teacher teams

to develop strategies on how to teach state

standards using a multicultural curriculum.

Whispering Winds Charter School

(Levy County)

Whispering Winds Charter School, the first charter

school rural North Central Florida (Levy, Gilchrist,

and Dixie Counties), provides an individualized

approach to education for students at risk in their

current educational setting. T

he school also strives

to promote a family-oriented atmosphere, innovative

teaching methods, and a positive approach to

discipline in order to ensure continued academic

and social growth for all the students.

Dissemination:

The dissemination project focuses

on four elements within its educational program that

staff feel have been exemplary: creative learning in

the primary grades, educating students with

disabilities in an inclusionary environment, parental

involvement, and positive classroom management.

Liberty City Charter School

(Dade County)

The Liberty City Charter School strives to develop

well-rounded students and citizens who are

inquisitive, thoughtful, devoted, concerned for the

welfare of others and who are intrinsically motivated

to learn.

A specific goal of LCCS has been to

horizontally and vertically align its curriculum to

develop a seamless and streamlined focus of

instruction and assessment.

Dissemination:

LCCS proposes to continue

conducting training for operators and teachers of

Florida public charter schools.

The focus of this

training includes syllabus development and

standards alignment, measurable instructional

objectives development, horizontal and vertical

integration of curriculum, and developing varied,

reliable, authentic classroom assessments.

Mater Academy Charter School

(Dade County)

Mater Academy provides a loving, caring, and

supportive educational environment that furthers a

philosophy of respect and high expectations for all

students, parents, teachers, and staff.

Mater

Academy’s multiage program focuses on organizing

groups by ability rather than by age.

Dissemination:

Disseminated materials include

instructional materials, innovative teaching

strategies and examples, and assessment

techniques. Practices are disseminated among the

schools by means of a series of workshops and

seminars as well as group and individual meetings,

site visits, e-mail, teleconferences, and parent web

site postings.

Ryder Elementary Charter School

(Dade

County)

The Ryder Elementary Charter School (RECS)

believes that all children can develop as intellectual

learners, function as good citizens, learn as

individuals in our society, and develop as actual or

potential workers in the community. RECS has

successfully implemented the MicroSociety

program for the past three years.

Students gain

skills by creating products, marketing, banking and

using everyday math skills to solve problems. The

MicroSociety program also allows for multiple age

grouping for ventures facilitating learning from

peers.

Dissemination:

This unique program will be

implemented at Northeast Academy, a charter

school located in North Miami Beach, Florida.

will train the faculty at Northeast Academy.

Micro coordinator and certified trainer from Ryder

The