News, Updates and Recent News Archives
07/06/09
WLCS Granted Non-Profit Status
After waiting nearly a year for approval of our 501 (c) 3 application, the Whole Life Charter School has been determined a public charity and exempt under section 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Mr. Anthony Rapice, of Charter School Choice, our business and back office firm, submitted the application to the Internal Revenue Service on July, 30 2008. It took 24 days short of a year and many mailings to and from the IRS for our organization to receive this important change in tax status.
There are many benefits to being determined as a public charity. Our organization can now apply for some of the many grant opportunities that are available through foundations, corporations, and private donors that have missions similar to our own.
We want to thank Mr. Rapice and Charter School Choice for taking us through this process and congratulate him on this successful outcome.
From 04/13/09
Big Picture Learning on TV
We just received this link from Big Picture Learning, the network of schools we are a part of. It is a Sacramento, California news clip that features Big Picture Learning's, Met Sacramento student Seetha Ream-Rao being interviewed about her experience interning with the City of Sacramento. (If you do not see the video below, click here to go to the video on the originating web site.)
From 02/07/09
Whole Life Charter School/Learner Alternatives Charter School Updates and Improves Proposed School Day Schedule
Please take a few minutes to review our newly revised daily schedule if you haven't done so already. We made a number of very big changes to the school day to expand our coverage of mathematics with each student.
From 01/14/09
The Big Picture Website updated and expanded
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| According to our information, the new Big Picture Learning logotype was designed by Milton Glaser. |
We are excited to announce that the Big Picture Learning website has been updated, modernized, and expanded.
As many of you know, the Whole Life Charter School is emulating the educational model that became the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center in Providence, Rhode Island back in 1992. Since that one school, which expanded to six shortly after and now to over 60 schools in the United States and over 40 more distributed between the Netherlands, Israel, and Australia, Big Picture Learning has become a highly respected international network of schools with a proven pedagogical method. We are proud that we will be a part of this network once we have opened.
Building such a large school network takes incredible quantities of time and energy, often leaving little extra time for publicity as in the development of a comprehensive and well maintained website. Big Picture has recently cut the ribbon on their new website and their new name as previously it was known as The Big Picture Company. Our opinion is that it is a stunning accomplishment. It is modern, easy to navigate, and extraordinarily comprehensive and well maintained. The website has been largely rewritten and now includes detailed information on mentoring, opening a Big Picture school, becoming an advisor, and the tenets which make up the model. Give it a visit at www.bigpicture.org.
From 10/10/08
Whole Life Charter School expands opportunities for students with exciting new partnerships
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| Whole Life Charter School Founding Team members, Kathleen Dzura, Jim Cohen, and Gary Sobolow on board the Gazela in October for a sail down the Delaware. |
Whole Life Charter School been working to expand the opportunities available to our students through a number of exciting new partnership.
One such partnership is with the Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild (PSPG). The PSPG has two interesting projects they are working on. The first is the preservation of a tall ship called Gazela and the second, the preservation of a tugboat named Jupiter. You can read about the PSPG here. Together with the PSPG, we are developing an addition to our program that includes an month long in-depth introduction to the two ships and the skills needed to maintain and sail them. Along with a number of volunteer specialists from the PSPG, our students will be introduced to skills in sailing navigational skills and they’ll get hands-on experience in shipwrighting, and ship preservation and repair. Students that find themselves interested in this kind of study can then apply to continue as interns, working one-on-one with ship specialists for the remainder of the year.
We have established a partnership with the Weavers Way Cooperative (WWC) in Mount Airy and, now, Olney. Glenn Bergmann, the WWC director, and I are considering a wide range of possible learning activities that would take advantage of the Weavers Way Farm on Washington Lane at Awbury Arboretum off of Chew Avenue as well as the two storefronts. Our students would have the chance to learn agriculture, horticulture, farm management, business management, food preparation, and studies we haven’t even considered yet as the Co-op is so rich with opportunity.
New University Partnerships
We have also partnered with two new universities. Temple University will be sending graduate students from their education and education/psychology programs. The Applied Psychology and Human Development Division of the Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania has agreed to partner with us and is prepared to send graduate students from the education psychology and guidance program. Theodore R. Burnes, Ph.D., M.S.Ed.,the training coordinator from the Penn Graduate School of Education also offered to conduct periodic trainings for Whole Life Charter School staff. Again this is a terrific opportunity to support our students, as well.
Other News
We received a new PDE grant. – The Whole Life Charter School team has been awarded a new grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. These funds will allow us to design and print new advertising materials so that we may develop even more support for our school as well as retain the services of those consultants and specialists necessaryto build and support a successful application.
Open Information Meeting – We will hold an open informational meeting for those interested in learning more about the Whole Life Charter School on Sunday, October 19th at 3:00 pm in Cheltenham Township. Please call 215.517.5331 to reserve your seats as space will be limited. Meeting addresses will be confirmed at the time of your call.
Continuing in Cheltenham Township – We are continuing to work towards a successful resolution to our application in Cheltenham Township. The Whole Life Charter School design is based on school models (New Country School in Minnesota and Big Picture Company in Rhode Island) that have proven to be successful for all learners. Students in these schools have renewed their enthusiasm towards their education and have achieved accordingly, posting strong gains in academic skills. Considering the great disparities in achievement between individual students and entire populations at Cheltenham High School we believe it is time that the Cheltenham Township School District Board of Directors accept our application and permit us to offer an educational alternative to Cheltenham residents. We will be submitting our application to the district once again within the next two months. Please click here to sign our petition and support our efforts to have our application approved in Cheltenham Township.
