Announcements

2615 26th St. West, Bradenton, FL 34205

Phone: (941)-739-6100 Fax: (941) 752-3250

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Message from the Principal

Dear Parents,

We thought you would like to hear about how well your children are doing and what's new this year. Also, we want to talk a little about the staff and what they expect students to do this year.

Recent research shows that charter schools are out-performing many of their public school counterparts. Using data taken from the 2000 - 2003 FCAT, the Florida DOE compared student learning gains for charter schools and traditional public schools. After looking at categories that included minorities, low-income students, gifted, and students with disabilities, the results were clear. Charter school student achievement matched or exceeded gains made in traditional public schools.

The Bradenton Charter School's children did extremely well in 2005-2006. They and their teachers were honored by Governor Jeb Bush. The school is one of the top 50 combination schools in Florida (elementary and middle). This honor came as a pleasant surprise. In 2005-2006, students worked hard and produced a number of excellent projects showing that they had not only understood their lessons, but that they had also acquired valuable skills necessary to apply their knowledge.

Just looking at the basics, student improvement in reading was 19.6%, mathematics was a satisfactory 3%, reading was 10.5%. School-wide, our increases averaged 13% for all areas measured by the FCAT. These results are exciting. We, like many of our counterparts, serve students who have not always performed well in traditional public schools, or who have been enrolled in alternative educational placements like home-schools.

At Bradenton Charter School, we have a small, individualized setting with highly qualified professionals. In addition to the strong academic program, we have the financial commitment to guarantee the success of our school. We have the support of experienced accountants and auditors, and our management team has over 36 years of school administrative experience.

Our staff is a diverse collection of professionals who have taught in either private or public school settings prior to arriving at the Bradenton Charter School. For 2006-2007, all teachers from the prior year returned and the only change in staff have involved teacher assistants.

With all teachers for 2005 – 2006 returning, and with a stable administration, the school benefits from a unified view of what is to come. This year we have implemented two new programs. The first is “Our Expanding World.” This school-wide initiative looks at the world’s people, places, environment, geography, arts, foods, and history. The objectives are to promote reading, writing, math, science, and social studies in a “world” context that offer students opportunities to involve themselves in projects that interest them. Of course, parent support and participation is invaluable and is requested. Next we have “Readers for Life.” This school-wide initiative is designed to use grade leveled literature selected to inspire students to want to read. Subject matter ranges from serious and heartfelt topics to those that are fun and ridiculous.

The staff and administration of the Bradenton Charter School are excited about the possibilities for student achievement this year. Our goal is to continue to provide students with high interest work designed to "take them to the next level." We will not only challenge students with what they need in regards to their traditional studies, but also to provide them with experiences and opportunities to develop and produce work products that reflect their diverse backgrounds and interests.

We are honored to not only be recognized by the Governor's Office as one of Florida's top combination schools, but to also have the trust of you, our parents. Thank you for trusting us with the education of your children. It is a trust we do not take for granted.

Sincerely,

Richard Donnelly, J.D.

Principal

and

The Teaching Staff and Management Team

of Bradenton Charter School

ELEMENTARY AND

MIDDLE SCHOOL

(GRADES 3-8)

RICHARD DONELLY,

PRINCIPAL

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