(Photo: S. Wessling)
Charter schools are public schools that are created with a special charter that defines their governance and academic focus. They are free to all students, and spaces are often filled by lottery or on a first-come, first-served basis. Charter schools are required to administer standardized tests and their 5 year charter renewal process depends on meeting testing requirements.
According to the California Charter Schools Association, "Research shows charter schools do a better job increasing student achievement than traditional public schools."
"Some of the myths that are out there are that charter schools take students from the traditional programs, along with the myth that charter schools aren't unionized," says Jay Dunlap, principal of SLV Charter School. He points out that "charter" just refers to how the school was created, not any specifics about how it is run or where it draws students from.
Below is a list of charter schools operating in San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County, and Ventura County. To submit corrections, please e-mail s...@sukiwessling.cm. Click here to read about North Central Coast charter schools.
San Luis Obispo County
Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter School
http://www.bsfcs.org/
City: San Luis Obispo
Grades served: K-6
Grizzly Youth Academy
http://www.grizzlyyouthacademy.org/
City: San Luis Obispo
Grades served: 10-12
Ventura County
ACE Charter High School
http://www.acecharterhigh.org/
City: Camarillo
Grades served: 10-12
Camarillo Charter
www.acecharterhigh.org/
City: Camarillo
Grades served: K-8
Golden Valley Charter School
http://www.goldenvcs.org/
City: Ventura
Grades served: K-12
Meadows Arts and Technology Elementary School
http://www.matescharter.org/
City: Thousand Oaks
Grades served: K-5
Somis Academy Charter School
http://www.somis-academy.org/
City: Camarillo
Grades served: K-12
University Charter Middle School Grade
None (District: http://schooldirectory.vcoe.org/)
City: Camarillo
Grades served: 6-8
Valley Oak Charter
http://www.valleyoakcharter.org/
City: Ojai (independent study)
Grades served: K-10
Ventura Charter School
http://www.venturacharterschool.org/
City: Ventura
Grades served: K-8
Vista Real Charter High School
http://www.vrchs.org/
City: Oxnard
Grades served: high school
Santa Barbara County
Camino Real Community Partnership Academy
None (District: http://www.lusd.org/schools/index#crl)
City: Lompoc
Grades served: 9-12
Cesar Chavez Charter School
http://www.chavezcheetahs.com/
City: Santa Barbara
Grades served: K-6
Family Partnership Home Study Charter School
http://www.sbceo.org/~fpcs/
City: Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo
Grades served: K-12
Manzanita Public Charter School
http://www.manzanitacharterschool.com/
City: Vandenberg Air Force Base
Grades served: K-6
Los Olivos Elementary School
http://www.losolivosschool.com/body.cfm?id=106
City: Los Olivos
Grades served: K-8
Olive Grove Charter School
http://www.losolivosschool.com/body.cfm?id=107
City: Los Olivos
Grades served: K-12
Orcutt Academy
http://72.55.11.14/public/charter/
City: Orcutt
Grades served: K-8
Peabody Charter School
http://www.peabodycharter.org/
City: Santa Barbara
Grades served: K-6
Santa Barbara Elementary Charter
http://www.sbcharter.org/
City: Goleta
Grades served: K-8
Santa Ynez Valley Charter School
http://www.syvcs.org/
City: Santa Ynez
Grades served: K-8
Kern County
California Virtual Academies (CAVA)
http://www.k12.com/cava/
City: Simi Valley
Grades served: K-12
Kern Workforce 2000 Academy Charter
http://www.khsd.k12.ca.us/workforce/
City: Various in Kern County
Grades served: Age 14-19
Nueva Vista Language Academy
http://www.duesd.org/schools/vallevistaes/
City: Delano
Grades served: K-5
Paramount Bard Academy
http://www.paramountbardacademy.org/
City: Delano
Grades served: currently 6-9 expanding to K-12
Pine Mountain Learning Center
http://pmlcenter.org/cgi-bin/start.cgi/pmlc/index.html
City: Pine Mountain
Grades served: K-6
Ridgecrest Charter School
http://www.ridgecrestcharterschool.org/
City: Ridgecrest
Grades served: K-8
Valley Oak Charter School
http://www.valleyoakscharterschool.org/
City: Bakersfield
Grades served: K-12
Comments
Something that has been bothering me for a while: with California public schools slashing their staffing and our local schools hurting so bad they are laying off essential vital services to kids and families, why not do the right thing and extend bussing - the safest mode of transportation of children on the planet - to charter school kids. I am sure parents and charter school grant writers (check out Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Board) can get it together to pay for it, and it would help us keep our fleet, and our jobs, which will never come back if we loose the fleet.
That's a great idea, though I'm not sure how they'd work it out given that charter school students are very unlikely to live in the same neighborhoods. But there might be a way to do it for a school that had a group of kids coming from the same place.
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