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LOS ANGELES--(Business Wire)--The Siart Foundation
today awarded $95,000 in
grants to five high achieving Southern California charter schools at an annual
luncheon hosted by Excellent Education Development (ExED). Bill Siart, founder
and chairman of ExED, presented the Charter School Excellence Awards, which
will be used to increase academic achievement or improve each school's
instructional program.
The recipients of the Excellence Awards
are Synergy Charter Academy
($50,000); Keiller Leadership Academy ($25,000); Integrity Charter School
($10,000); Gabriella
Charter School ($5,000); and Camino Nuevo Charter
High School ($5,000). The awards were presented to charter schools that have
demonstrated excellence in academic achievement while maintaining strong fiscal
management. Significant portions of the student population at each school are
also economically disadvantaged.
"I am thrilled to honor these very
successful charter schools which have
excelled both in the classroom and in their overall fiscal management," said
Bill Siart. "The achievement of these schools is proof that academic excellence
can occur among all types of students in all types of communities, no matter
their economic standing."
"Because a successful school is a
true team effort, ExED offers its sincere
congratulations to the teachers, students, and parents of these five charter
schools, as well as the staff who help manage the school so that students are
free to excel in the classroom," said ExED Executive Director Anita Landecker.
"These grants sponsored by the Siart Foundation will go a long way towards
enhancing the educational experience of charter school students by providing
them with some of the tools they need most."
Although 83 percent of its 141 elementary
students qualify for free or
reduced price lunch, Synergy Charter Academy has been the highest performing
school in South Los Angeles two years in a row, having attained an API score of
846. It is also the first school in South LA to defeat the statewide
achievement gap among Latino and African American students compared to their
Caucasian peers, and was named the 2007 National Charter School of the Year by
the Center for Education Reform. Synergy will use its $50,000 grant to purchase
a variety of needed instructional materials, including an Apple Mobile Learning
Lab with 20 laptops and software, and chapter books for independent reading.
Based in San Diego, in one of the lowest
socioeconomic areas with one of the
highest crime rates in the county, Keiller Leadership Academy has increased its
API score 79 points in two years to 717, earning a Similar Schools Rank of 10
and WASC accreditation. Keiller
is a conversion charter school with 529 students in
grades six through eight,
and an ExED client. The school will use the $25,000 award to help fund its
"Summer Academies" program, which provides extra support to 120 students to
close the achievement gap with computer−assisted instruction in both Math and
Language Arts.
Integrity Charter School's 150 elementary
level students have met their
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals, and earned an API score of 789, marking
an 88−point increase in two years. As the only charter school in National City,
80 percent of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch. With its
$10,000 grant, Integrity will launch a science research laboratory to enable
teachers, students, and their families to utilize the most current
standards−based scientific inquiry materials.
Both $5,000 grant awardees are also current
ExED clients. Featured
by
Los Angeles Magazine as "one of 60 great elementary schools you
should know about," Gabriella Charter School has earned an API
score of 814 and students scored above the 50th percentile on
all areas of the CAT−6 exam. The dance−themed school will use
the $5,000 grant to do one of the following: update its
technology curriculum, establish a school library, expand the
science curriculum or the ST Math and Music Program, or enhance
physical education through "Dance Dance Revolution" games.
Camino Nuevo Charter High School's focus
on preparing students for college
has earned the school an API score of 760, a Similar Schools Rank of 10, and
has enabled Camino Nuevo to meet its AYP every year since its inception in
2004. The $5,000 grant will allow the MacArthur Park−based school to contribute
towards creating the first of its kind Parent−College−Student
Institute for
Service and Action to engage parents, community members, and students in
academic and social work.
ExED is a Los Angeles−based
organization that provides business and
management services to charter schools. Since its founding in 1998, ExED's
expert team has worked with more than 60 charter schools to serve more than
10,000 students. The organization assists Southern California charter schools
with the essential functions they often find most difficult: securing
affordable facilities, dealing with school districts, complying with state and
federal regulations, accounting and payroll. For more information, visit
www.exed.net.
for ExED
Kristen Coco, 310-689-7539
kristen@sugermangroup.com
Copyright Business Wire 2007
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