Rand Campus To Close at End of School Year

On February 1, the CAPCS Board of Trustees voted to close the Rand Campus at the end of the current school year. The Board felt it had no choice but to take this step in order to protect the other CAPCS campuses. When the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) voted on December 19, 2011, to propose revocation of the CAPCS charter, it made clear that its primary concern was the low academic performance of Rand over the past several years. However, because all CAPCS campuses are under the same charter, revocation would have closed down all campuses. In discussions with the PCSB following the December vote, CAPCS focused on the many changes and new programs that have been implemented this year. It will take time to see the results. In a letter of January 30, 2012, the PSCB notified the Board of Trustees that since it had not voted to close Rand, the PCSB intends to proceed with the revocation process. It noted again that revocation would mean closure of all CAPCS campuses. The PCSB said it remains open to discussing the Rand closure and the impact of that closure on the PCSB's proposed revocation decision.

CAPCS leadership and the entire Rand staff remain committed to making this school year a great one. We want to show that all Rand students are capable of performing at a high level and that individually and collectively we can demonstrate significant academic growth.

We need your support!

A parent-led effort to show support for CAPCS is underway. A petition has been created to allow CAPCS parents, teachers, and staff to send a clear message to the Public Charter School Board (PCSB) that we need CAPCS for our children. This campaign gives us an opportunity to voice our views publicly to our community leaders, future CAPCS families, and the DC educational community. The petition will be available to everyone in each campus main office this week. To further make our case, we invite you to also drop off a personal letter telling PCSB what CAPCS has meant to you and/or what it is doing for your child. These letters will be collected from each main office at the end of January and passed along to PCSB. Help us save our school!

If you want further information on how you can help, please contact Charlene West Thomas at 202-322-4213.

We are a family, we are a community, and we are excellence.

Acting Out

It was life imitates art on January 27 when Rosemarie Onwukwe, an LCD Specialist at Amos 2, took part in a theater production entitled "Teachers' Lounge" hosted by the Department of Education. The production was part of the Teacher Voices on Stage project designed to bring more teacher voices to the Department. It depicted the highs and lows of teaching in today's classroom though a series of small skits. A Q&A session with the audience, composed of principals, teachers and DOE staff followed. Ms. Onwukwe and her 13 fellow actors from the mid-Atlantic region then participated in a private roundtable discussion of education policies with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and enjoyed a private screening of the film "American Teacher." Not one to miss an opportunity, Ms. Onwukwe invited Secretary Duncan to visit CAPCS. He expressed interest in experiencing our Reggio-inspired classrooms and other areas.

How To……

First graders in Ms. Liaguri's class at Rand and Ms. Brewster's class at Amos 1 were working on the Common Core Standard Research to Present Knowledge by researching a number of "how-to" books on a subject and then writing their own how-to book with a set of instructions complete with pictures. What could be more fun than sharing the results with classmates at the other campus? Thanks to Skype, they did just that. Several of Ms. Brewster's students read their books aloud during their publishing party while Ms. Liaguri's students watched via Skype. Next it will be Ms. Liaguri's students who will read their books to their friends at Amos 1 during the Rand publishing party. This is a great example of how technology is being integrated into the classrooms to boost shared learning and make connections.

CAPCS Butler Campus Named Tier 1 School by PCSB

Consistent improvement in academic achievement over time and solid DC CAS test scores propelled the Butler Global into the top tier of DC public charter schools under a new evaluation and rating system developed by the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB). The Performance Management Framework (PMF) covers grades 3rd – 8th and high school and is used to produce an annual "report card" for each school. Schools are given points in four categories – student progress over time, achievement in reading and math, preparation for future success, and attendance and reenrollment in the school. The cumulative point total determines if a school is Tier 1 (high performing). Tier 2 (mid performing) and Tier 3 (low performing).

CAPCS' Amos 1 school and CAPCS Online are Tier 2 schools. CAPCS Online missed the Tier 1 cut by less than one percent.

The Amos 3 school and the Rand school are in Tier 3. Tier 3 schools undergo a more in-depth onsite review by the PCSB. Those falling below a certain level are given a charter warning and are candidates for charter revocation if they don't improve. The charter of organzations with multiple schools can be endangered if one school hits the Tier 3 trigger point, despite solid performance by the other schools.

The Office of Academic Services has implemented significant changes schoolwide, especially at Rand, designed to make significant academic improvement. We've already seen positive signs and look forward to even more.

Rand Revels in Reading

Rand students and their parents turned out in force for Literacy Night on November 10. Dressed in pajamas for added fun, students participated in a round of reading-related activities including read-alouds, memory and sight word games, and alphabet bingo. There were technology demonstrations and art projects. Early childhood students presented an amazing shaving cream demonstration. All this and pizza too! PTO President and Board of Trustees member Charlene West welcomed everyone and introduced special guests Ebony Stokes and Karen Towels from the DC Public Library who talked about the importance of parents reading with young children and encouraging older children to set aside time every day to read. Children headed home with free books to add to their own libraries.

Designing the Future

Designing the Future CAPCS Amos 3 Upper school students and teachers are excited about the new Project Lead the Way (PLTW) engineering program which is already underway. Students will have the opportunity to create, design and build things like robots and cars, applying what they are learning in math and science to the world's grand challenges. Classes will begin in the 2nd advisory with Design and Modeling being offered to 8th grade students, Flight and Space to 7th graders, and Science of Technology to 6th graders. Students love learning the design process and basics of engineering, while using their creativity to find innovative solutions to everyday problems. Click here to read more about PLTW.