October 2013 Update: Castlebay's API came in at 939. PRCS at 924.
School at Castlebay and PRCS was back in full swing on Tuesday, August 13, 2013 and enrollment is up at both schools. Castlebay Lane Charter Elementary has grown from 720 students last year to 775 this year. In a “Coffee with the Principal” meeting with Victoria Littlejohn, she noted that the District expected attendance this year would be 645 students and had provided teachers accordingly. Due to the influx of students, additional classrooms and teachers were prepared to greet students.
Principal Victoria Littlejohn greets parents at her monthly Coffee with the Principal meeting.
New for this year is the opening of the Science Lab. The parent organization raised $26,000 combined with $20,000 of school funds to provide a teacher and outfit a classroom with experiment tables, stools, demonstration equipment, shelving, and mural. Science teacher Erica Angelo is credentialed and will prepare science labs sessions and co-teach them in the lab with the classroom teacher. Student time in the lab increases by grade level. Although students are already using the lab, Castlebay will celebrate the grand opening of the lab on Saturday, September 28 in conjunction with their ET movie night.
Castlebay continues to provide art, music and computer lab instruction on a weekly basis funded by parent giving. Students may participate in optional after school enrichment classes which include orchestra and choir. Fundraising also pays for the use of Accelerated Reader, an internet based program to help students with reading comprehension.
In response to parent inquiries about impending construction on the new multi purpose room to seat 450, Littlejohn, shared that four bungalows had been removed where the multi purpose room is to be built. The YMCA bungalow is due to be relocated, as it was two feet too close to the planned multipurpose location. With a sigh, she explained that the construction timetable is unknown. On the plus side, the District moved quickly to increase the height of the fencing around the kinder yard in the aftermath of Sandy Hook. New fences were installed in May.
New fencing is installed around Castlebay kinder play yard, May 2013.
On the other side of Porter Ranch, the Porter Ranch Community School is also growing by leaps and bounds. Elementary school enrollment is at 670, up from 450 the year before. Middle school enrollment is at 250, up from 150 the year before. The addition of eighth grade this year accounts for much of the middle school increase. Coordinator Mindy Park attributes the overall increase to neighborhood parents pulling their students out of private schools and new families moving into the neighborhood. No additional enrollment lottery was conducted this year.
PRCS Entrance Way
The Korean Dual Language Program has attracted parents and now is comprised of one class in kindergarten through fifth, with the exception of second grade which has two classes. In middle school, students continue the program with an elective in Korean Language and Culture.
With the increase in middle school enrollment, two teachers from Portola have been added and more electives are being offered including: Tae Kwan Do, Dance, Chorus, Creative Writing, Theater, Film History, Math Tutoring, Leadership, Yearbook and Korean Language and Culture. The middle school now also provides a part time counselor on a daily basis.
MIddle School Lockers
PRCS will be using Accelerated Reader for reading comprehension in grades 2+, Razz Kids for grades K-1 and IXL for math reinforcement. Through parent giving, they plan to open a computer lab this October, run by Computerwise Kids, who also runs the computer lab at Castlebay and 14 other schools. Fundraising is also providing a set of six iPads to rotate between each group of three classes for use in small group instruction or Accelerated Reader.
