Charter school surviving by running as a business

Charter school surviving by running as a business

Charter school surviving by running as a business

March 22, 2010, 03:30 AM By Heather Murtagh Daily Journal Staff

Heather Murtagh/Daily Journal A San Carlos Learning Center first grade student mixes a green mixture that will soon become lizard bread. Holding a little wooden stick, first grade student Sydney stirred the green concoction in her little Dixie cup. “It’s green because of the dye,” she explained while continuing to stir. It’s a Friday in Colleen McPeek’s class at the San Carlos Charter Learning Center. McPeek always tries to keep cooking in the loop during Friday centers, a time in which children are able to work in small groups and try a variety of activities. In this particular center, the students are making green bread. “The kids just love it,” she said. Having small group time and being able to assess a student’s individual level of learning is a luxury for many schools right now. In a time of massive budget cuts, the San Carlos Charter Learning Center is making it work on less by looking at education from a business perspective. First, the school generates income through before-, after- and summer-school offerings. But the largest resource is free: Volunteers. The key, officials said, is managing those volunteers throughout the campus to maximize benefits to the school and all the children served. As a result, teachers like McPeek are able to regularly offer smaller, individualized plans for her students. Serving 260 children in kindergarten through eighth grade with a $2.2 million annual budget has forced a lean operation and thinking outside the box, said Director Christopher Mahoney. Keeping afloat has meant restructuring education in recent years while becoming a business and offering other programs. California became the second state to allow charter schools in 1992, behind Minnesota. Originally, a 100-school limit was placed on such schools. San Carlos became the first to open a charter school with the San Carlos Charter Learning Center, which was granted a charter in 1993 and opened its doors to 85 students the following year. It’s funded per student from the state at a level slightly below the district in which