News

June 25, 2007

Bear Creek Charter School braces for 100 percent capacity

JANINE UNGVARSKY Times Leader Correspondent

BEAR CREEK TWP. – Outfitting their school to operate at full capacity dominated budget discussions for the Bear Creek Charter School Board of Trustees on Monday night.

“We have every expectation that we will have 100 percent enrollment next year,” said Principal Jan Solkov.

Entering its fourth year, the school will house 390 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, Solkov said, with two sections of every grade except fourth and eighth.

Holding class sizes at 20 per class for kindergarten and 25 for every other grade means the school has few openings, she said. “We have a hundred more on a waiting list.”

Board Secretary Jim Smith said the 40 additional students will play a big role in an expected increase in the school’s operating budget from $2.8 million to $3.2 million for next year. Additional staff, books, supplies and furniture will make up the bulk of the increase, he said, and board members brainstormed ways to get the most for their money.

Solkov described mobile computer carts that hold 20 laptops and plug in overnight for charging. “It’s a creative way to handle computers,” she said of the $22,000 carts.

“The computers come to the classroom. You don’t have to find room for them in the classroom and you don’t have disruption moving students to another room to use them.”

Plans to increase funding to the environmental education program were also discussed.

“We need to make sure we are the environmental education school and we have everything we need,” Solkov said. A new part-time advanced science teacher will be given other responsibilities for coordinating the school’s environmental and “green” programs, the board said. “The environmental education program is so important to us and we shouldn’t cheap out,” Smith said.

The board also discussed purchasing a new social studies curriculum for next year and replacing science and writing programs, as well as the use of a new assessment program available through the Luzerne Intermediate Unit.

Also discussed was a banner presentation ceremony to celebrate the school’s recognition as a National Charter School of the Year scheduled for Friday and the school’s first-ever eighth-grade graduation on June 14.

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