Press Releases

February 2000

Organizational Changes

CPA members,

If you attended the most recent CPA meeting or by virtue of reading Stuart's contribution to the newsletter, you have heard the news that he has accepted a job as superintendent for the International School of the Eastern Seaboard in Burapah, Thailand. He will be headed that way this summer. Until then he will continue to assist us as a member of our Advisory Board.

We feel very lucky to have benefited from Stuart's guidance and expertise over these last few months. We are grateful he will continue to play a significant role in helping us get the preschool off the ground and input into how best to get the charter school up and running. In addition, by the time we launch ISM, we will already have close ties with two international schools (Prague and Burapah) on two different continents!

In view of Stuart's changing role and in consideration of all that we need to stay on top of to maintain our forward momentum, the Board has decided to hire Kathryn Poling Krone as a consultant in the role of Managing Director. Over the last ten months she has contributed significant hours every week to keep us on course. We are delighted that she is available to assume this role at this time (we seem to be lucky in terms of finding just the right people at just the right time).

Given Kathryn's new role, the Board has elected a new Chair and Vice Chair. I, Dorothy Lank, am the new Board Chair (many of you know me through your involvement with the preschool) and Gordon Freedman (head of the Technology Committee) is the Vice Chair.

So this is what is happening on the organizational front. I look forward to seeing you at the next CPA meeting.


Sincerely,
Dorothy Lank
Board Chair

Preschool Opening Planned!

I am delighted to announce that, pending approval by licensing, we plan to open the ISM Preschool on March 13th. St. James Church has been very cooperative and helpful as we prepare the site. Our Preschool Coordinator, Esther Hobbs, along with several parent volunteers will be painting, cleaning and installing playground equipment for the preschool during the next 5 weekends. Thanks to all our generous volunteers! For additional details on the preschool, check out the Preschool brochure on the website.


Dorothy Lank
Board Chair and Preschool Committee Chair

Updates from the CPA Meeting on 2/7/00

Updates from the CPA Meeting on 2/7/00
Thank you to all those that attended the CPA meeting. We appreciate your continued commitment!

Charter Status

• PGUSD - as you know based on the letter posted to the website, we have put our petition on hold with PGUSD for financial reasons. The only option here is to pay PGUSD to make them whole for the financial loss they would incur to host us. This would amount to about $150,000 our first year which is currently beyond our means. Out of respect for this District and in consideration of our finances, we are not likely to pursue this option.
  
  
• Other charter options
  
  We have recently learned of two other Districts within Monterey County that may be interested in hosting our charter, Pacific Valley in Big Sur and an elementary District in King City. We will be talking with the Superintendents of these Districts soon and will keep you posted. A second option is to apply to a District outside the county. By law we can apply to any District in a contiguous County. Our first choice is to find a host within the County but we are beginning to contact other Districts that are supportive to charter schools as a plan B.
  
  
• Other Options
  
  Given the legislative constraints being imposed on charter schools, we are also exploring an idea we heard about recently that would position us somewhere between a charter and a private school. We don't even know enough about this option yet to describe it and assess its viability. Hopefully, we will learn enough to talk about it at the next CPA meeting.

Site

• The primary geography we are serving - given the questions and concerns that have been voiced recently, the Board felt it was important to clarify the primary group we are trying to serve and the primary geography in which we are trying to find a site. The distance between Carmel and North County is rather significant and while we would like to be equally accessible to everyone within this area, the likelihood that we can find a location suitable to all is slim. Our primary clientele, so to speak, is the CPA membership. The majority of these families live on the Peninsula, with the greatest number residing in Monterey. Hence, our search for a site is focused primarily between Carmel, Marina/Seaside and the River Road exit off Highway 68. Our first choice, as you know, is Highway 68. We are certainly willing to look at possible sites outside this scope. Once we do locate a site, we can look at creative ways to include families at a distance.
  
  
• David Avenue
  
  We still have our hat in the ring to lease David Avenue. We are free to pursue this course even if we withdraw our petition from PGUSD. As we have mentioned before, PGUSD will most likely not know if David Avenue will be available for lease until May.
  
  
• Chapman University
  
  An Advisory Board member, Tom David, who owns Heritage Harbor, recently suggested that we speak with one of his tenants, Chapman University, about sharing space. Chapman uses their space after 6 P.M. on weekdays and on Saturdays. Kathryn and Keith spoke with the Director, Kathleen Rose. They have 7 classrooms and one computer lab that are great. Having adequate outdoor space is a bit of a challenge but given our options, we feel this one is definitely worth pursing.

Preschool

• Opening Date - barring anything unforeseen, the preschool will be opening on March 13th!!! We are thrilled we will finally have a physical presence.
  
  
• Program - we found that what would work best for both ISM and the church is to start small. We will be opening with one teacher and one classroom. There will be space for eight children. The program will be from 8:30 AM. to 12:00 noon. The program is for children between the ages of three (by December 2 of 1999) and prior to entering kindergarten. Children must be toilet trained to enroll. There will also be two additional spaces available on a financial aid basis. These are for families who cannot afford the tuition and would like to spend time working in the preschool. Tuition credits will be given in exchange for time volunteered in helping our preschool coordinator, Ester Hobbs. To get an application for the preschool please call Esther Hobbs at 372-8621. The deadline for CPA members to get applications in is February 22nd. If we have not filled the preschool by then, we will then open it to the public.
  
  
• Assistance - there is a lot of work to be done to prepare the preschool room in the church and install the playground. Many CPA members have already stepped forward to help with these efforts. Thanks to all of you in advance for your assistance. Anyone else interested in participating, please contact Ester at the number above.

ISM Office

We now have voice mail rather than an answering machine to hopefully eliminate any problems with messages getting lost. We have a new address for the school:


The International School of Monterey
P.O. Box 711
Monterey, CA 93942-0711

Avenues for Participation

For people who would like to get more involved with helping make ISM a reality, here are some options:

• Fundraising
  
  CPA phone solicitation to raise money
  
  Events - We have an opportunity to engage in events such as the golf event we held last year, etc. We also have an opportunity to hold a dance-a-thon with participation from some of the choreographers for the most popular groups of today, such as 'N Sync, Back Street Boys, etc. We need someone to help lead this effort and others to assist. If you are interested, please contact Kathryn Poling Krone at 372-8621.

• Preschool - As mentioned above, we need helpers here. Please call and leave a message for Ester Hobbs at 372-8621 if you can help (include your name and phone number).
• Social Events Committee - If there are those who would like to participate on a social events committee for the CPA to be able to get to know one another better, please contact Kathryn Poling Krone at 372-8621.
• Site - If you know of any possibilities for the site for the school either long term or short term i.e. by September 2000, please contact Keith Krone at 624-0648.

OOPS!!! We missed one!.

Our apologies to Kidist Grznar who attended the PGUSD Board Meeting last month as one of the members of ISM. We forgot to include her on our list of parents who spent the evening in support of ISM. She joins Ashook Gopinath, Trisha Grobecker, June Trachsel, Robin Venuti, Tara Nutter, Tim Ryan, and Candia Colangelo as members of our organization who deserve many thank yous!!

Next CPA Meeting Scheduled

Thursday, March 2, 2000, 7 PM - 9 PM

Ryan Ranch - 20 Lower Ragsdale Dr., Suite 100
(Check website for agenda and directions.)

From the International Community

Dear ISM Friends and Colleagues,

Greetings from Prague! My family and I are now happily settled in this historic and beautiful city. We are constantly amazed with the possibilities here. The music and art scene is plentiful. There is a huge expatriate community with activities galore.

I have been extremely busy. Last year in Monterey, I was able to talk and write about our dream school. Now, I am in the thick of things getting to know my new institution and to meet its needs.

My two major goals are in the fields of publicity/marketing and curriculum development. Since August we have published a new brochure (and logo), produced a 19-minute promotional video, begun the reconstruction of our web page, and begun publishing a detailed school prospectus.

With curriculum, we have launched a school-wide curriculum committee comprised of teachers from all divisions. We are examining the written, taught, and learned components of the curriculum. We have agreed upon a framework which is modeled after the International Baccalaureate program. It is much like the material I presented in Monterey. It is interesting to actually put into practice the ideas I developed while connected with ISM.

In fact, as an ISM Advisory Board Member, our work here will serve your future school well. Each day I have the opportunity to fine tune our curriculum and make recommendations when you are ready to begin your school. The power of the international school community is our ability to share and learn from each other.

Currently we are developing a set of standards which all our teachers will endeavor to follow. We will compile a set of teaching strategies which will be used to appraise our teachers. In addition, all teachers will use several different strategies to assess their students' work to ensure that learning has taken place.

We are currently piloting an elementary social studies program in order to better define our expectations and goals. Fortunately, I am surrounded by dedicated and committed teachers who are enthusiastic and involved.

It is my sincere hope that I can visit Monterey in early March. I hope to meet with the Board and interested parents. My time in Monterey was special and I learned a lot. My experience with ISM has made me a better educational leader.


All my best wishes for a successful future.

Robert Landau
Director, International School of Prague
Founding Director, International School of Monterey