After reading the Dec. 23 Morgan Hill Times article
”
MH Charter School on the Chopping Block
”
, we felt the limited space for the article did not do the
Charter School justice in describing the value of the school or the
due process of Charter Renewal.
After reading the Dec. 23 Morgan Hill Times article “MH Charter School on the Chopping Block”, we felt the limited space for the article did not do the Charter School justice in describing the value of the school or the due process of Charter Renewal.
We believe the context of the review process was not clearly communicated and that has created undue community concern over the future of the Charter School of Morgan Hill. We have a fine program designed to serve ALL of the diverse Morgan Hill community with proven results.
The community needs to understand that the Dec 20 hearing was the FIRST opportunity for the MHUSD Board of Trustees to hear public comment and to have a discussion on the Charter Renewal.
It is the duty of the Trustees to raise questions based on the extensive documents placed before them. It is also quite normal for a Charter Renewal Petition to undergo revisions before going to a District vote for approval.
A great effort was put into developing the Petition, and similar diligence was shown by the District to review it and identify the areas where they required elaboration.
We take the District’s comments and questions seriously and are making every effort to answer them to their satisfaction. But the small number of issues raised out of this 300-plus page document does not seem to justify the headline that we are on the “Chopping Block.” In fact, the final paragraph of the district consultant’s report reads “In summary, it seems clear that the Charter School of Morgan Hill is an outstanding school. I would also be remiss if I failed to note the excellence of the Renewal Charter Proposal. In some aspects, it represents the finest I have ever reviewed. While is it not approvable as presented, there are relatively few areas which require revision.”
We would like to remind your readers of the great strides CSMH has taken in a scant 4 – years.
We have bootstrapped from a small startup school in a storefront to a school on par with the best schools in the Morgan Hill Unified School District.
We are a young school, having grown from 164 students in the first year, to 425 students in 2005-06. While our API scores show excellent results, we are still improving and look forward to greater accomplishments in the future.
The community of Morgan Hill benefits from having choices in their children’s education. CSMH offers a unique opportunity for children to learn the same standards-based material taught at all public schools in a Project Based Learning (PBL) format. PBL provides our children with a framework to apply the core subjects to solve meaningful problems. This engages the students’ interest and teaches them the value of the core subjects for now and in the future.
In addition to PBL, we offer enrichment classes in PE, Art, Music, Spanish and Agriculture. Since CSMH is a K-8 school, we also offer a small, yet comprehensive, middle school environment.
PBL and the emphasis placed on family involvement is not for everyone, so CSMH serves as a niche offering to complement the other fine schools in the Morgan Hill Unified School District.
We would like to clarify some of the items brought up at the Dec.20 meeting. First of all, the Charter School is open to any student residing in the State and welcomes all.
We have always actively recruited a diverse population of applicants. Our admissions procedures include the legally required preferences for District students.
Another concern brought up by the consultant was whether a parent involvement philosophy such as ours would serve to discourage a diverse pool of applicants. He stated this in general, as he has never seen our Charter School.
This is not the case at CSMH, as we DO NOT require volunteer hours for parent involvement. Our philosophy of parent involvement centers on supporting the student’s efforts at school. This includes making sure homework is completed, the students get to school on time and they read at home. In essence, we expect parents to help their children succeed in school.
Who would deny that every school should be challenging their families to do this? Parents help the school where and when they can, based on their available time, talents and abilities. This is a positive environment of pitching in, and NOT an oppressive environment of counting hours.
In 2001-02, the Charter School first opened in downtown Morgan Hill in a diverse neighborhood. Our efforts in neighborhood recruitment resulted in a 20 percent Hispanic/Latino population by the 2002/03 school year. In 2003, Proposition 39 mandated that “public school facilities should be shared fairly among all public school pupils, including those in charter schools.”
At the time the law went into effect, we requested a downtown site so we could continue to serve the Morgan Hill community. Unfortunately, the District could not spare a facility closer than the Encinal campus in Coyote Valley.
This locale has become a detractor to our efforts to recruit a diverse population. We have expended considerable effort to recruit, organize and keep track of carpools to mitigate this commute.
The stability of the School’s finances has improved dramatically in our short four and a half years of existence. The administration and the Board of Directors at the Charter School of Morgan Hill have always budgeted conservatively and have closely monitored expenditures.
The School has been able to offer a strong educational program, provide enrichment classes, pay off a State start up loan and plan for a reserve.
The School is required to have an independent audit each year and the excellent audit report just completed reflects the Charter School’s positive financial management.
In conclusion, we feel the Charter School conversation has been sidetracked by headlines and an article focusing on the few issues being worked out as part of the normal review process.
Rather than searching for opportunities to shut down an institution that is helping the children of our community, we would hope a more balanced conversation would center on how the Charter School and MHUSD can learn and share together to continually improve the way we serve and educate the children of our District.
Morgan Hill Unified School District is working hard on developing its schools and programs. MHUSD has talented teachers and great schools. Dr. Nishino’s goal of developing the MHUSD system to the level of Saratoga and Palo Alto is a worthy one.
CSMH’s program is offering a unique option within the public school system. We all have the same goal: provide Morgan Hill’s children with the best education possible.
Paige Cisewski is the CSMH Principal and Bruce Taylor is on theCSMH Board
Editor’s note: Subscribers can read past articles on the Morgan Hill Charter School, including a report on the school’s history and achievements at our Web site, www.morganhilltimes .com, by searching for charter school.
