Ridgecrest Charter School

Basic Information

Address: 325 S Downs

County: Kern

District: Ridgecrest Charter

Phone Number: 760.375.1010

Fax Number: 760.375-7766

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Email: info@rcharter.org

Principal: Tina Ellingsworth

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Additional Information

School Type: K-8 Charter

Accreditation: WASC- (2013)

District ID: 15-75630

School ID: 0350

State District ID: 15-75630

State School ID: 1530500

Grade Level: K-5, 6-8

Founded: 2001

School Setting:

Traditional

School Schedule (Hours in Day): 8am-3pm (7 hours)

School Days in Calendar Year: 180

School Holidays: 7 Holidays and Thanksgiving Break (5) and Winter Break (10) and 1 In Lieu

School Colors: Red, White and Blue

School Mascot: Eagle

Community:

Rural

School Size: 300

Classroom Size: K-3 (20 students, school maintains CSR) 4-8 (28 students)

Classroom Teachers: 13

Student/Teacher Ratio: 1:23

Support Services:

RSP, Library, Media, Psych, Reading Specialist, Paraprofessionals, Speech, Computer Lab

Camp Programs: No

After School Programs: Yes

Summer School: No

PTA Organization: Yes

Computer Capabilities:

Computer lab 28 computers, classes each have 2-3 computers

School Clubs:

Chess, garden, croquet, yearbook, student coucel, K-kids, Builders club, cooking, choir

Lunch Availability: In progress, breakfast to start 2010

Parking Spaces/Availability:

yes

Uniform Guidelines:

Any solid color polo shirts, pants, skorts, shorts, jumpers: black, navy blue or khaki.

Mission Statement:

The mission of the Ridgecrest Charter School is to provide an experience-centered, life-long learner based
environment that enables each student to meet the academic challenges and develop the social, emotional, and
physical understanding necessary to succeed in life.

Philosophy/Belief Statement:

We believe students learn in an environment that encourages inquiry and dialogue around state content
standards, that values and builds on prior knowledge and that nurtures and supports the whole child.
Our school provides an environment where accountability, flexibility, innovation, parental choice, parent
teacher involvement, and public-private partnerships can work together to provide a better future for our
children. Our school will embrace, celebrate and benefit from the ethnic, linguistic and the socioeconomic
diversity of our ever changing community by promoting family, school, and community partnerships.

Enrollment Characteristics: White- 79% Hispanic- 10% Asian- 5% African American- 4% American Indian- 2%

School History:

2009-2010 Revisions and Status: On May 7, 2009, the State Board of Education renewed the school's charter for a 5 year term through June 30, 2014. The 2009-10 school year will be Ridgecrest Charter School's ninth year of operation.

Ridgecrest Charter School was created when a group of passionate parents reviewed the educational opportunities available in the Ridgecrest community. Other than private, tuition-based schools, the community offered few educational alternatives.

The effort began in 1992, during the same time the State of California was enacting new charter school laws. This provided opportunities for teachers, parents, pupils, and community members to establish and maintain schools that operate independently from the existing school district structure.

In 2001, through a series of negotiations and appeals, a charter was granted to the Ridgecrest Charter School. In 2004, the school's charter was renewed for an additional 5 year term. Its sponsor is the State Board of Education.

Notes/School Information:

During the course of the school year, teachers address the needs of students who are underperforming in their classes. They spend time making calls home to obtain parent assistance. Teachers make themselves available for tutoring after school. When necessary, teachers will utilize other school staff to assist in supporting the student. One such avenue is the Student Study Team (SST). This team consists of a school administrator, the RSP teacher, the school psychologist, teachers, parents, and students and together they develop a plan to meet the academic needs of the student. These plans can include procedural issues for the student in the classroom such as preferred seating, accountability measures such as having a weekly progress report fill out, or additional tutoring through teachers, RCS students.

In addition, at the end of each grading period reports are generated regarding those students who are under-performing in their classes. This serves as an additional tool to alert school personnel to assist those students in need. Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) is part of the regular school day for all students. This period is right after our lunch period and is 20 minutes long. Students are allowed to utilize this time to do 25 assigned reading or to select reading for pleasure. The concept is to encourage an interest in reading and improve literacy skills.

Special Education Services are provided to students with learning disabilities to meet their Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals. One full-time Resource Specialist Program (RSP) teacher and one full time paraprofessional serve these students. Students in these programs participate in regular education classes (full inclusion model) as appropriate to their levels of educational opportunity as determined by the IEP Team.

Technology in the classroom and the computer lab is extremely important to the students and teachers at RCS. The computer lab has 28 computers that connect to the Internet. There is an average of 2 computers per classroom. A Technology Coordinator oversees the computer lab. The computer lab is also equipped with Success Makers Intervention Software and Lexia, a program designed to improve reading.