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Author Topic: Statement on the Charter School 2014-2019  (Read 10552 times)
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« on: April 19, 2014, 07:51:18 PM »

This post is being modified to include emails from April 17th, through the week of April 21st. Scroll down to see new messages.

For a recap of the Charter Renewal and more detail visit this link: http://corbettpost.com/csd/charter-school/

Next year the Corbett Charter School will have only ONE classroom on campus. They will get the "Trillium Room" (or what used to be our grade school library). They can have up to 75 kids in that room. They can have a total of 300 kids, if they find and report a new facility, within Corbett, by 4/22/14.  They will not be able to have a high school program. Read here for the latest: http://corbettoregon.com/forum/index.php?topic=834.0


Following are emails sent to parents starting on 4/17/2014

From: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Date: April 17, 2014 at 8:06:49 PM PDT
To: 2013 Charter Friends <2012CharterFriends@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Subject: The News

Corbett School District and Corbett Charter School are done negotiating.  The District has posted a joint our statement on their website.

http://corbett.k12.or.us/2014/04/17/joint-statement-regarding-charter-school-contract-revision/

The revisions to the agreement are extensive.  I will post a signed copy when we have a legal draft.

The one actionable certainty that comes from all of this is that there will be no Corbett Charter High School next year.  We will be unable to offer grades 9-12.

Other possible components of the program are in flux right now as we sort out with our current personnel what is and isn't possible.  This certainly isn't ideal for this time of year, but it is where we are.  We will know much more on the 22nd, which is our new deadline for securing any off-campus properties that we might be allowed to occupy.  None of the properties will accommodate a high school program, which is why we know now that it is off the table.

We will get you more concrete news regarding our plans as soon as possible.


--
Regards,

Bob Dunton, Director
Corbett Charter School
Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Date: April 19, 2014 at 5:36:18 PM PDT
To: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Subject: Tell us if you are Staying with us!

As the result of mediation (to avoid court) Corbett Charter School was able to preserve a gem of a program for next year.  Prior to mediation we had nothing.

What we saved was the opportunity for every single current 4th and 5th grader to return to Corbett Charter School next year with an all-star team of teachers.  Depending on space available, we may have space for some of our current 3rd graders to join us for 4th grade as well.

Putting this together is a tremendous lot of work.  But one year of extraordinary schooling is worth it.  It can be the one year that makes a difference for a child.

Class will convene in the current Corbett Grade School library space, which has always been my personal favorite room in the building.  It is spacious, it has interesting 'nooks', and the view is pretty spectacular.

The room will be staffed with three all-star teachers and my favorite administrator and will serve no more than 75 students.  Those are pretty splendid numbers.

We will feature our remarkable Imaginative Education curriculum complete with all of the areas of study that have produced the best results in Oregon for some years now.  Your students will enjoy another year with teachers and classmates who 'get it'; who understand that we are doing something unique, and who dramatically out-perform their peers on every measure of academic achievement. Imaginative Education, Learning in Depth, Philosophy for Children...all of those things that stimulate profound intellectual growth and that are not available anywhere else.  One more year.  One more year in Oregon's best school.

If your child is enrolled Corbett Charter School in grades four or five this year, you are already in! No application is requiredl.

If your child is enrolled in grade three this year, we will be able to accommodate at least a third of the class.  And because some families will have made other plans in the course of all of the uncertainty, it is possible that we can offer a place to all of you depending on the decisions made by those students who are currently in 4th and 5th! We just can't know yet, which is why we ask the following:

If you have students in grades four and five this year and want to continue with Corbett Charter School for one more year, then we need to hear from you.  Just an email listing the names of your students and an enthusiastic 'count me in' will be great.  If you have students in 4th or 5th this year AND have a younger sibling in 3rd this year (4th next year) we'd love to know that, too.


--
Regards,

Bob Dunton, Director
Corbett Charter School



From: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Date: April 19, 2014 at 5:50:12 PM PDT
To: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Subject: Next Year Continued

How do you aim for TEXT COLOR and hit SEND instead?!

To continue:

The three teachers are Mrs. Lindy Sims, Mr. Larry Swanson and Ms. Sarah Dummer.  Mr. Swanson and Ms. Dummer will be returning to their elementary roots where both have experience with intermediate grades.  Mrs. Sims has been a team leader and needs no introduction.

Sheri Dunton will be the on-site principal.  She is a licensed Special Education Teacher, elementary classroom teacher, reading specialist and administrator.  She couldn't possibly be more qualified.  I'm not allowed on campus next year, so I am grateful in the extreme to have her there in my stead.  I will be managing the organization, personnel, budget, from afar.  This saddens me but it's how things are.

I know that you will have many questions.  A lot of the details are to be determined.  But our contention has always been that the teachers are the key to the quality of education, and that's where I continue to put my trust.  It's where I'm asking you to put yours as well.

Drop me a note if you wish to remain with Corbett Charter School for grades five or six next year. Also let me know if you have a fourth grader coming up who you'd like to see stay on as well.  If demand exceeds capacity at any grade level, we will conduct a lottery that includes only interested people.

The District wants to know from us on the 22nd who among those who entered the District lottery is planning to stay with us instead.  We are going to assist them in this goal to the degree that we are able.

But right now, we just need to know who among our own current students to plan for.

Because you are already Corbett Charter families, I am comfortable saying that I need to know by the end of the week.  It is already painfully late in the year for this conversation, and I want to give as many families as possible as much lead time as I can give them.  We also have about 70 new applicants for the affected grades that I want to be able to give a final word to before too much more time passes.

Please.  Send me an email and let me know if you want to stay with us.  We are going to be insanely busy and we will not be able to respond to each inquiry over the next few days.  We will provide more details in group emails as we are able.  We are inventing some things as we go.  We are really good at that.

I'm excited for next year.  This will be, for one or more students, the best year that they have had.  It will be an adventure.

--
Regards,

Bob Dunton, Director
Corbett Charter School

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Subject: Grade Level Update for 2014-2015 in Corbett Charter School
Date: April 19, 2014 5:58:42 PM PDT
To: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Bcc: 2012CharterFriends@corbettcharter.k12.or.us

We now know that we will be able to offer grades five and six next year.
There may be slots available for grade four, and a slim chance of some in grade three.  Those numbers depend on how many stay in grades five and six.

We are still hoping for a lease agreement that would allow us to offer middle school in Springdale at the old Forest Service site.  We have a deadline of April 22nd to get something signed, and we haven't yet heard back.  Today that chance seems extremely remote.

We will not be able to offer our primary program or our high school program.

We regret deeply that this is the case.  We are only allowed to have 75 students on campus next year, all in one room, and we had to make decisions regarding where one year could make the greatest positive impact.  We also had to consider what age students would do best in the space that is available to us.  The space will not be available to us after next year.  This is one year of schooling.  We intend to make it count.

--
Regards,

Bob Dunton, Director
Corbett Charter School


Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Date: April 20, 2014 at 8:16:00 AM PDT
To: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Subject: We are not recruiting

If you currently have a student enrolled in 4th or 5th grade at Corbett Charter School, we are not recruiting you.  We are informing you that regardless of any communication with the any other school to date, you are automatically enrolled in Corbett Charter School for 2014-15 if you choose to stay.

You have a right to stay with Corbett Charter next year, and to have your children taught by Corbett Charter School teachers, and all you have to do is let me know of your wishes.  Nothing that you have said or done strips you of that right.  You should know that the difference between Corbett Charter and the Corbett School in terms of student outcomes at those grade levels is profound. Nobody can take that difference away from you.

Because we are going to offer admission to students beyond our current 4th and 5th graders based on space available, I need to hear back from you by Friday noon (12:00 noon. on April 25th) if you wish to maintain your status with the Corbett Charter School next year. 

Trivia:  Over the past two years, Corbett Charter School 5th and 6th graders have averaged an 89% passing rate in Reading and 83% in Math.  The numbers for the other school during the same time have been 70% in Reading and 58% in Math.

You must be tired of deadlines, but we aren't asking you to make a blind choice or to change schools.  You know what the choices are.  In my own mind it's a simple question of who you want to have responsible for the education of your children next year.  But I know that there are other factors.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

--
Regards,

Bob Dunton, Director
Corbett Charter School


Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Date: April 20, 2014 at 2:58:15 PM PDT
To: Bob Dunton <bdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Cc: Sheri Dunton <sdunton@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>,  Sarah Dummer <sdummer@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>,  Lindy Sims <lsims@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>,  Larry Swanson <lswanson@corbettcharter.k12.or.us>
Subject: Monday Meeting for 2014-15 4th-6th grade parents

Monday night at 6:00 in the Corbett Charter Elementary Commons
We will limit the duration to one hour.
We know you can't all be there...and neither can all of us!

We know it's not convenient, but it's what was available.
Tuesday is Funky Monkeys,
Wednesday is High School Conferences,
Thursday is too late in the week.

Please do drop me a line if you have questions.
Thanks!
--
Regards,

Bob Dunton, Director
Corbett Charter School


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« Reply #1 on: April 19, 2014, 09:10:59 PM »

More background/detail:

http://corbettpost.com/csd/charter-school/
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