We wish all of you the very best as you complete the current school year and finalized plans for the future!

The application deadline for the 2012-2013 Corbett Charter School (CCS) lottery is midnight, January 31st, 2012 (next Tuesday). Visit our application page for additional information on enrollment, or go directly to the online form to submit your application.

Cycling

New this year, the Corbett Cycling Club is a student driven group aiming to bring together expert and novice bike enthusiasts alike.  Still in its infancy, the goal is to get students participating in everything from casual rides around our scenic region to competitive sports like cyclocross.  Whichever direction students take it, the CCC is open to all and will hopefully garner appreciation for a truly sustainable, healthy and fun mode of transportation and sport.

As soon as the weather clears, Corbett students will ride the Springwater Corridor Trail starting at Gresham’s main city park.  We will ride 10 miles out, have lunch and return.  Our first ride will be aimed at getting everyone comfortably on their bikes and experiencing one of the many types of rides we can do locally.

The possibility of establishing a cyclocross team is also in the works through a partnership with OBRA (Oregon Bicycle Racing Association).  We need at least three students to commit and compete.

Please get in touch with Mr. Goude or Mr. Ferguson if you’re a student or parent looking to get involved.

Washington, DC

This coming June, Mr. Ferguson would like to take five or more high school students to our nation’s capital to tour around, debate public policy, meet lawmakers and spend time with other civically minded students from around the country.

“The renowned Close Up Washington High School Program is the only one of its kind in the world. It’s a fast-paced 6-day adventure in which students experience firsthand the power of democracy in action. Under the guidance of Close Up’s outstanding faculty, students use the nation’s capital as a living classroom to complete a series of exciting, challenging and unforgettable activities. They also meet with the people who make this federal city so unique — and make personal connections to the places, events and people Washington’s famous memorials represent. Students return home knowing that they have key roles to play as informed and engaged participants in the U.S. democracy.”

This is an exciting time to visit Washington!  Please click here for more information.

The application deadline for the 2012-2013 Corbett Charter School (CCS) lottery is midnight, January 31st, 2012. Visit our application page for additional information on enrollment, or go directly to the online form to submit your application.

• No tuition
• Unmatched student achievement
• Imaginative Education (learn more at the IERG website)
• Focused multi-age elementary classrooms: K-1st, 2nd-3rd, 4th-6th
• Outstanding rating on the 2011 State of Oregon Report Card
• Philosophy for Children
• Learning in Depth (LID –learn more at IERG’s LID website)
• Highly qualified teachers
• Full access to AP classes with all exam fees paid by CCS
• Ranked 3rd among all public high schools by The Washington Post in May, 2011 (learn more about CSD’s renowned AP program)
• Parental choice regarding delayed start time for grades 10-12
• iPad incentive program for 9th grade students
• Scholarship recognition ($5,000.00 awards) for achievement among graduating seniors

If you have additional questions about Corbett Charter School, please read our library of frequently asked questions (FAQs), or feel free to contact us for additional detail.

Please plan to attend high school conferences from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 12th at Corbett High School.  Progress reports will be available and parents are invited to visit with teachers in their respective classrooms.

At 7:oo, Mr. Dunton will hold a meeting for Charter School 11th and 12th graders and their parents regarding Corbett Charter School graduation requirements.  Corbett Charter School’s graduation requirements are similar to those of Corbett School, but all students need to understand the differences in order to graduate on time and to avoid any unnecessary ‘anxious moments’.  Interested students and parents will meet in Mr. Dunton’s classroom.

Corbett Charter School’s Number 3 ranking leads all schools in 49 states. The two top-ranked schools share a single campus in Dallas, Texas. One is an Engineering Magnet, the other a school for Talented and Gifted.

Ten Oregon schools made the list this year, led by Corbett Charter (3rd) and Corbett School (15th). The primary difference between the two Corbett School District programs was that Corbett Charter had a relatively smaller senior class while Corbett School had a larger senior class. Aside from that, the two schools performed very similarly. No other Oregon school is ranked in the top 700.

Still, this is not just about rankings. It’s about the concrete reality that the rankings represent. We offer a world-class level of opportunity to our students. When we win, they win. And they take their winnings with them to some of the best schools in the country. Make no mistake. This is serious business done by serious people. It’s our business. Creating opportunities for kids. That’s it. Open door.

We are entering the budget season, and money is in short supply. One result of budget pressures, and the accompanying stress, is that people are not always circumspect in their comments regarding whose job it might be to fix things. Because Corbett Charter School constitutes a third of the Corbett School District enrollment, it provides literally a third of the dollars that are spent on campus…a tremendous boon in hard times. But because it is new, it is being scrutinized as a source of even greater benefit.

What does Corbett Charter School bring to the District? Between rent and payment for curriculum and technology services, the Charter School pays about 23-25% of its total funding directly back to Corbett School District. The remainder of Charter School funding goes to staff, supplies and materials, audits, insurance, and such. We run a pretty skinny operation, as does the District.

Still, questions linger about imagined ‘hidden costs’ of the Charter School.

In an operation the size of Corbett School District, costs can be pretty difficult to hide! Could the District operate with a smaller support staff if not for the Charter School? It’s hard to imagine how. In fact, the District has reduced support staff since the Charter School opened! Could it operate with fewer than one maintenance person, one grounds person and two custodians for the entire campus and grounds? Would it need fewer special education aides if not for the Charter? (All special education costs for charter students are the responsibility of their home districts!) Could there be fewer bus drivers? (No drivers were added, and if charter students are allowed to ride the bus, it is only because space is available on an existing route. I suppose it’s possible that an extra 80 pounds affects gas mileage!) Fewer cooks? (Oh, Corbett doesn’t hire cooks, just the same staff that operated the cafeteria and the Culinary Arts program prior to the establishment of the Charter School.) Both the elementary and secondary offices are staffed by multiple employees during their breaks from other duties, as neither office has a designated full-time secretary. Are there savings to be had by leaving offices empty? The charter school uses no district classroom aides, though charter students do require supervision at recess…along with the Corbett School students. But this was discussed as part of setting rents. Those rents are pure windfall for Corbett School District. Everyone recognized that at the time, which is why Gresham Barlow and Reynolds school districts hired a lawyer to research whether they could prevent the establishment of Corbett Charter. Today, as money is even tighter statewide, all of this knowledge can be too easily pushed aside in favor of wild hopes and wilder fears. Nobody who shares in the institutional memory of Corbett could fall victim to an alternative history of the past two years.

So regarding hidden costs: unless Corbett School District has hired ten or twelve new staff members at a cost of $50,000.00 each, strictly to deal with the new workload created by Corbett Charter School, then the Charter School is paying its way in spades.

But what of the hidden benefits of Corbett Charter School? Has anyone researched those? What about increased pay-to-play? (By over 30%) Would Corbett have fielded a football team this year without charter students? Would the face of volleyball have been different? The Dance team? Swimming? Basketball? Band? Volunteers at every single event? Donations to athletics? Several classrooms full of new furniture? (All grant funded!)

Students who took Spanish I, 10th grade English, Advanced Placement World History, Advanced Placement Calculus (ab or bc), or Advanced Placement Statistics took those classes from a teacher fully funded by Corbett Charter School, as did about 80% of students taking Advanced Placement English. To our mutual benefit, charter students also cross-enrolled to take AP Art, AP Science, AP Social Science, music, etc from District-funded teachers. What both student bodies gained was a breadth of offerings and opportunities that NEITHER could have afforded alone. This simply cannot be cast as anything but a net gain to every student and to their families.

Prior to the Charter, when Corbett had 170 students attending from other districts on inter-district transfers, bringing a million dollars a year to the operation, very few people were unable to cipher out the benefit. Those children took their places among our best students, our best athletes, our best citizens. The funding that they brought with them prevented Corbett from having to see some of the draconian cuts that our neighbors were making. When our neighboring districts chose, unilaterally and without so much as a consultation, to end that option, they inadvertently provided an impetus to the founding of Corbett Charter School. But somehow the Charter School students (many of whom are the very same young people!) are suspected of costing the District money? There is no logic to such a transformation of judgment. There is only a desperate and misguided hope that Charter School students can bear even more of the costs of operating the school district in tight times.

Corbett Charter School pays its own way, and then some. And it’s appropriate that it do so. It is a privilege to be part of Oregon’s finest school district. And here’s the last verse:

Corbett Charter School is, by law, by contract, by mutual agreement and mutual benefit, part of Corbett School District. It simply doesn’t do, during the budget process, to imagine that the Charter School is a foreign entity. It is not. Barely a year ago it was greeted as the rescuing Cavalry! It still is. It is cost effective, and its operation constitutes a significant net financial gain to the District, to the tune of nearly 10% of its general fund budget. Whatever potential shortfall the District is facing today would literally double without the presence of the Charter School.

I apologize to those of you who already knew all of this. But for those who are hearing that perhaps you are not doing your share as a charter community, it is simply not the case. I understand the temptation for people to wish it so, but wishing only goes so far. The facts say otherwise. Every member of the Corbett Charter School community can say with certainty that our presence in Corbett is a benefit to students whose numbers are far greater than just its own enrollment.

Times are hard. You will be asked to do more. But you will be asked, not told, with deep respect for what you are already contributing. And if you are unable to give more, nobody will forget that you have already done your share. And then some.

Warm Regards,
Bob