Posts made in March, 2013

We had our first meeting on 4/5/2013.

Agenda

1. Review our goals.
2. Walk through the Starting a Charter School steps
3. Walk through the Proposal steps
4. Walk through the State Requirements
5. Discuss our proposed start date
6. Distribute Action Items

Notes

• The meeting went well. Jake Plahn, Dionne Plahn, Laurie Cardwell, Cheryl Neet, Rob Neet, Kelly Harris, Jessica Cardwell, Kirsten Cardwell, and Tammy Garlitz attended.
• We discussed why we are here and what skills everyone brings to the table.
• An explanation on the charter school being a separate entity from the Fall Creek Home School Academy and that private schools who charge tuition cannot convert themselves to a charter school took place.
• We discussed that we are here because we feel strongly about educating the children in our community and that no one on the team is guaranteed a job at the charter school.
• We made it through step 7 on the Starting a Charter School page. The page has been updated with our responses. Click on the “Completed” link next to the item to see the response.
• The name of our school was discussed. Kelly doesn’t want the name tied to a location like it is in “Fall Creek Charter”. She is also concerned about the brand/image that will be tied to the name and feels strongly that the name should be easily tied to the brand/image people think of when they hear or see it. Everyone agreed and we brainstormed possibilities.
  • Signify a “new start”, “rebuilding”, “roots”
  • The latin word for “roots” was dismissed because it would be confusing
  • Using a Greek word was shot down because we don’t want it to be confusing.
  • Relate to the founding families of the area
  • Name it after a historical figure that represents character.
• Our next step is to start the conversation with the Lowell School District about starting a charter school in their district. Tammy volunteered to talk to the district. Jake would like to do this with her. We plan on doing this after our next meeting.
• We discussed building options in the Lowell/Fall Creek area. We came up with the following options:
  • Lundy
    • Laurie and Rob discussed the dismal and possibly toxic state the building is in. We decided to not pursue this option.
  • Put modulars on the property by Tumac
    • We like this idea, but are leaning towards the Lundy field because of our plans to convert Lundy to a charter school.
  • Putting modulars on the Lundy field
    • We decided that this is the most viable option for us.
  • Forest Service Buildings
    • This space would be perfect for us, but we don’t think the owner is interested in leasing or selling the buildings.

Action Items

• Jake
  • Start an email thread about possible school names
  • Email the ODE charter school coordinator the following questions:
    • In ORS 338.035 what do they define an “alternative education program” as?
    • Is their any advantage to establishing a charter school from an existing alternative education program?
• Everyone
  • Respond to the email thread with their name ideas.