Sycamore Academy of Science and Cultural Arts

“LEUSD Calls For Academic Improvement At Wildomar Charter School.” Lake Elsinore-Wildomar Patch (CA), 6/14/2011

The Lake Elsinore Unified School District issued a Notice of Violations and a Notice to Cure and Correct order after the charter school came up short on several benchmarks.

The Lake Elsinore Unified School District and Sycamore Academy of Science and Cultural Arts boards have each agreed to provide two representatives to meet regularly to discuss how to address and improve the K-6 Charter School’s academic rankings and scores to meet specific benchmarks.

The decision follows the issuance of a Notice of Violations and Notice to Cure and Correct by the district to the Wildomar-based charter school. The notice resulted from a lower-than-expected academic ranking based on state-required tests.

The district board also requested that the school report when a student drops out and to provide the student’s last address to the superintendent...

District officials insisted that those worried about the school being closed were overreacting and the district was simply requesting improvement.

“It is not my intent to close the charter school,” said Susan Scott, district board president. “We are not here to antagonize. But you are getting notice.”...

Sycamore school representatives challenged the way the state judges a school’s success based on test scores and school rankings. District Superintendent Frank Passarella agreed that the system is not perfect.

“It’s the card public schools have been dealt,” he said, adding that lawmakers and school officials in Sacramento make the decisions on how schools are scored and pass them on to local school districts.

Sycamore school received a similar-school ranking of 1 out of 10 with 10 being the highest ranking. The school’s statewide ranking was a 6...