California Academy of Learning Charter School

As the first and only face-to-face charter school in Washington County, and serving students in four, the California Academy of Learning Charter school seeks to provide a charter choice for families in rural populations. Washington and Fayette County demographics are 93% White and 3% Black, with 9.4% of people in both counties with a disability (census.gov). In both counties, the poverty level is 9.1% (census.gov). The California Academy of Learning (CAL) Charter Academy offers low-income families and families of students with disabilities a face-to-face charter choice to meet the needs of their children. The CAL Charter Academy was approved for 25 students for the 2022-2023 school year in grades K-6 and has grown by 313% in the second year of enrollment. The growth in student enrollment is expected to be in the free/reduced, special education, and white populations due to the demographics of the Washington, Fayette, and Greene counties (surrounding counties). The CAL Charter Academy seeks to provide instruction to a diverse population of students, with the importance of serving marginalized communities. The vision for the project includes creating a high-quality brick and mortar charter school in a rural community that serves students experiencing poverty and students with disabilities by individualizing the educational experience and eliminating traditional structures (i.e. grades, levels, suspensions) that limit student achievement. The goals of the project include to establish and increase enrollment that meets the social, emotional, educational, and physical needs of at-risk students; and improve physical, mental and emotional well-being for all children in school. The CSP funds will help achieve these goals by providing the start-up funds to establish a charter school with the goals mentioned above. The funds will provide the educational resources needed for staff to implement individualized learning plans for all students, will provide age-appropriate furniture for the students, will fund professional development for school establishment and costs with implementing office procedures with new charter schools.