Schools

Ceiba College Prep Asks for Renewal of Charter

Students, parents and teachers pack school board meeting to show support.

Students, parents and teachers from Ceiba College Prep appealed to the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees to renew the charter school’s agreement with the school district.

Though no board action was scheduled, an overflow crowd of Ceiba supporters attended the Wednesday night meeting to share their experiences at the young school with the board.

Ceiba, a sixth-eighth-grade school in downtown Watsonville, opened in September 2008 with a three-year charter through the school district. The school has grown to about 250 student. Next year, it’s slated to add ninth grade, if the school board renews Ceiba’s charter.

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Students told trustees the small school creates a safe, supportive environment where they focus on learning and teachers challenge them. Kids don’t face pressures to use drugs or join gangs.

“All the teachers want us to succeed,” said Kevin Ramirez, a Ceiba eighth-grader who was near-failing as a Bradley Elementary School student but now earns A's and B's.

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Ceiba focuses on academics and values such as creativity and integrity, science teacher Carly Silva said.

“At our school, college is a real dream for our students,” said Silva, a Watsonville High School graduate.

Parents said their kids’ grades have improved. The school culture encourages kids to prepare for college and their futures, and also gets parents involved.

“Now we feel confident, motivated and ready to participate in our children’s education,” said Yolanda Davnna, a Ceiba parent and also a classified employee in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District.

When the school opened in fall 2008, 12 percent of students said they wanted to go to college. Two years later, 99 percent of Ceiba students hope to move onto higher education, according to Tom Brown, co-founder of Ceiba.

Brown acknowledged that he knows why school boards are wary of charter schools. The alternative programs take students—and state dollars—out of the public school system.

However, Ceiba’s state test scores are the second-highest in Santa Cruz County for its grade level, behind Scotts Valley Middle School. The school has a positive revenue balance while operating with 22 percent less per-student funding from the state than public schools, according to Brown.

School trustees will visit Ceiba before making a decision on the renewal application at the board’s Feb. 23 meeting.

“I think we’re doing a great job,” Silva said. “I would like to see it continue.”


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