Bullis Charter School officials are excited about being one of two schools in Santa Clara County to recently receive a $360,000 Charter School Implementation Grant by the state Board of Education.
“It is quite an endorsement by the state and we are very proud,” said Principal Wanny Hersey. “There were three types of grants: start-up, implementation, and dissemination. We were only eligible to apply for the implementation grant as the former is for schools that have not opened its doors and the latter is for those who are in the position to mentor others.”
In an announcement to school parents, Hersey noted, “Through a competitive application and review process, 291 applications were evaluated and scored by panels of readers composed of charter school experts from across the state and nation. Because of the volume of high-quality applications submitted, awards to schools were made at 90 percent of the requested budget amounts, so more grants could be issued to support the development of new charter schools.
Jack O’Connell, state superintendent of public instruction, said, “Charter schools serve as laboratories to develop best educational practices. With these grants, we hope to start more charter schools, and replicate and share best practices with other schools in the state to focus on increasing student achievement.”
Hersey said the grant funds are restricted and targeted to support teacher and curricular development in the area of individualized learning.
“I am extremely excited and proud of this award,” she said. “It is an objective endorsement of what we have been doing at Bullis Charter School and support of where we are heading … ultimately, a validation of our educational mission and our work with students. There is a lot of hard work ahead but it is nice to know that what we are doing is something the state deems as ’best educational practices’ and ‘replicable.’”
Bullis officials plan to use the money on Schools Attuned, a program that helps teachers improve the way they work with students with different learning styles.
