Roberto Clemente Charter School


Roberto Clemente Charter School is a small, urban, public charter school located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The school is located at 4th and Walnut Streets in Allentown. It serves students in grades 6 through 12. It had 320 students enrolled in the 2007-08 school year. Approximately 94% of the students then enrolled at Roberto Clemente Charter School were Hispanic. In 2013, the school reported an enrollment of 308 pupils in grades 6th through 12th. Additionally, 92% of the pupils were eligible for a federal free or reduced-price lunch due to the family meeting the federal poverty level. Roberto Clemente Charter School administration reported that 8% of pupils received special education services. The school is a federally designated Title I school.
During the 2009-10 school year, the Roberto Clemente Charter School provided educational services to 320 pupils from the School District of the City of Allentown. It employed: 21 teachers, 13 full-time and part-time support personnel, and 8 administrators. The Charter School received $187,362 in tuition payments from school districts required to pay for their students attending the Charter School in school year 2007-08.
In Pennsylvania, charter schools are initially approved and subsequently overseen by the local school board. They make in depth, annual reports to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. In Pennsylvania, charter schools are a public school alternative the local public schools. Students may seek admission to a local charter school. The student's home public school district pays the tuition costs on the student's behalf. Additionally, when the local school district provides transportation to its students it must also provide transportation at no costs to charter school students when the receiving school is within 10 miles of the district's borders. Pennsylvania charter schools have the same academic accountability as traditional public schools and must give the PSSAs to their pupils each year, working to achieve AYP status.
In 2011, Roberto Clemente Charter School applied to the Allentown School Board to broaden its program to include kindergarten through 5th grades. The application was denied by the Allentown School Board 5 against-4 vote. The Charter School's board appealed to the Pennsylvania Charter School Appeal Board, which in August 2013 reversed the Allentown School Board's denial decision, allowing the expansion of the charter school. In March 2014, Roberto Clemente Charter School reached an agreement to purchase a school building on Cedar Street in Allentown.
Roberto Clemente Charter School is named for Roberto Clemente, a 12-time Gold Glove Award winner with the Pittsburgh Pirates whose Major League Baseball career was cut short by his 1972 death in a plane crash.
Roberto Clemente Charter School is one of four public charter schools operating in Lehigh County in 2013. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, in 2012, there were 50,605 children in Lehigh County who were enrolled in public charter schools.

School performance profile

Roberto Clemente Charter School achieved 69.1 out of 100. Reflects on-grade-level reading, mathematics and science achievement. In reading/literature - 64% were on grade level. In mathematics and Algebra 1, 70% showed on-grade-level skills. In science/Biology, 35.7% showed on-grade-level science understanding. In 8th grade writing, 93% of pupils demonstrated on-grade-level writing skills. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2,181 public schools, achieved an academic score of 70 or higher. Pennsylvania 11th grade students no longer take the PSSAs. Instead, they now take the Keystone Exams at the end of the associated course.
This was higher student academic achievement than all of the district's high schools and middle schools, including: William Allen High School, Louis E. Dieruff High School, Harrison-Morton Middle School, Francis D. Raub Middle School, South Mountain Middle School and Trexler Middle School.

Graduation rate

In 2013, Roberto Clemente Charter School's graduation rate was 100%. In 2012, the school's graduation rate was 100%. In 2011, the school's graduation rate was also 100%.
;Graduation Requirements
Students graduating with a high school diploma are required to meet Roberto Clemente Charter School requirements for graduation including: English 4.0 units, Social Studies 3.5 units, Mathematics 4.0 units, Science 3.0 units, Arts & Humanities 2.0 units, Health.5 unit, Physical Education.8 unit, Graduation Project.2 unit, Electives 5.0 units for a total minimum credits 23.00 units. To receive a credit towards graduation the student must have earned at least a "C" in the course. Additionally, students must engage in at least 25 community service hours and attain proficiency in the PSSAs. Students not demonstrating proficiency on the state administered PSSA assessment in 11th grade are required to take the 12th grade PSSA retest or local assessment.

AYP history

In 2012, Roberto Clemente Charter School achieved Adequate Yearly Progress status.
PSSAs are NCLB related examinations which were administered to 11th graders from 1999 through 2012. In 2013, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania changed its high school assessments to the Keystone Exams in Algebra 1, Reading/literature and Biology1. The exams are given at the end of the course, rather than all in the spring of the student's 11th grade year.
11th Grade Reading:
11th Grade Math:
11th Grade Science:
Pennsylvania System of School Assessments, commonly called PSSAs were started in 1999 for 5th, 8th and 11th grades. Sixth and seventh grades are tested in reading and mathematics since 2006. Eighth graders are tested in: reading, writing, mathematics and Science. Beginning in the Spring of 2013, eighth graders, who are enrolled in Algebra I take the Keystone Exam for Algebra I at the end of the course. The testing of 8th grade in reading and mathematics began in 1999. Testing in science began in 2007. The goal is for 100% of students to be on grade level or better in reading and mathematics, by the Spring of 2014. The tests focus on the state's Academic Standards for reading, writing, mathematics and science. The standards were first published in 1998 and are mandated by the Pennsylvania State Board of Education.
8th Grade Reading:
8th Grade Math:
8th Grade Science:
7th Grade Reading:
7th Grade Math:
6th Grade Reading:
6th Grade Math:
5th Grade Reading:
5th Grade Math:
Roberto Clemente Charter School offers a dual enrollment program to its high school aged students. This state program permits high school students to take courses, at local higher education institutions, to earn college credits. Students remain enrolled at their high school. The courses count towards high school graduation requirements and towards earning a college degree. The students continue to have full access to activities and programs at their high school. The college credits are offered at a deeply discounted rate. The school has a dual enrollment agreement with Lehigh Carbon Community College. The state offered a small grant to assist students in costs for tuition, fees and books. Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions. Under state rules, other students that reside in the district, who attend a private school, a charter school or are homeschooled are eligible to participate in this program. In 2010, Governor Edward Rendell eliminated the grants to students, from the Commonwealth, due to a state budget crisis.

Special education

In December 2011, the Roberto Clemente Charter School administration reported that 16 pupils or 5% of the school's pupils received special education services, with 46% of the identified students having a specific learning disability. In December 2009, the school's administration reported that 27 pupils, or 8.5% of the district's pupils, received special education services, with 96% of the identified students having a specific learning disability. Special education services in the Commonwealth are provided to students from ages three years to 21 years old. In the 2010-11 school year, the total student enrollment was more than 1.78 million students with approximately 275,000 students eligible for special education services. Among these students 18,959 were identified with mental retardation and 21,245 students with autism. The largest group of students are identified as Specific Learning Disabilities 126,026 students and Speech or Language Impairments with 43,542 students.
In order to comply with state and federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act rules and regulations, Roberto Clemente Charter School engages in identification procedures to ensure that eligible students receive an appropriate educational program consisting of special education and related services, individualized to meet student needs. At no cost to the parents, these services are provided in compliance with state and federal law; and are reasonably calculated to yield meaningful educational benefit and student progress. To identify students who may be eligible for special education services, various screening activities are conducted on an ongoing basis. These screening activities include: review of group-based data ; hearing, vision, motor, and speech/language screening; and review by the Special Education administration. When screening results suggest that the student may be eligible, the district seeks parental consent to conduct a multidisciplinary evaluation. Parents who suspect their child is eligible may verbally request a multidisciplinary evaluation from a professional employee of the district or contact the school's Special Education Department. The IDEA 2004 requires each school entity to publish a notice to parents, in newspapers or other media, including the student handbook and website regarding the availability of screening and intervention services and how to access them.
Funding for special education services at Roberto Clemente Charter School are provided through the tuition paid by the Allentown School District. Additionally, the Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit IU21 provides the school with a wide variety of services like specialized education for disabled students and hearing, speech and visual disability services and professional development for staff and faculty.

School safety and bullying

The Roberto Clemente Charter School administration reported there were eight incidents of bullying in the school in 2012. Additionally, the school reported no weapons incidents, no incidents involving local law enforcement and no reports of sexual misconduct. Each year the school safety data is reported by the district to the Safe School Center which publishes the reports online.
The Board of Trustees has provided the school's antibully policy online as mandated by state law. All Pennsylvania public schools are required to have an anti-bullying policy incorporated into their Code of Student Conduct. The policy must identify disciplinary actions for bullying and designate a school staff person to receive complaints of bullying. The policy must be available on the school's website and posted in every classroom. All Pennsylvania public schools must provide a copy of its anti-bullying policy to the Office for Safe Schools every year, and shall review their policy every three years. Additionally, the district must conduct an annual review of that policy with students. The Center for Schools and Communities works in partnership with the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency and the Pennsylvania Department of Education to assist schools and communities as they research, select and implement bullying prevention programs and initiatives.
Education standards relating to student safety and anti harassment programs are described in the 10.3. Safety and Injury Prevention in the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Health, Safety and Physical Education.

Audit

In March 2013, the Pennsylvania Auditor General conducted a performance audit of the Roberto Clemente Charter School. The multiple significant findings were reported to the Roberto Clemente Charter School's Board of Trustees and the school's Administration, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Tuition

Students who live in the Allentown School District's attendance area may choose to attend one of Pennsylvania's 157 public charter schools. A student living in a neighboring public school district or a foreign exchange student may seek admission to Area School District. For these cases, the Pennsylvania Department of Education sets an annual tuition rate for each school district. It is the amount the public school district pays for each resident student that attends the Roberto Clemente Charter School. The 2012 tuition rates were $9,858.67 for both the middle school aged and high school students. The Allentown School District reported its internal per-pupil spending was $11,952.95 in 2012.
In 2008, the tuition rate was $6,662.64 $14,972.57. The Allentown School District reported its internal per-pupil spending was $10,012 in 2008.

Grants

;Federal Stimulus Grant
Roberto Clemente Charter School received an extra $99,090 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Federal Stimulus money to be used in specific programs like special education and meeting the academic needs of low-income students. The funding was limited to the 2009–10 and 2010-2011 school years. Due to the temporary nature of the funding, schools were repeatedly advised to use the funds for one time expenditures like: acquiring equipment, making repairs to buildings, training teachers to provide more effective instruction or purchasing books and software.
;21st Century Learning Grant
In July 2010, Roberto Clemente Charter School received a federal grant which is run by the PDE. The grant calls for the establishment and sustainability of community learning centers that provide additional educational services to students in high-poverty and low-performing schools. The grant was competitive. Applications for the grants were reviewed and scored by a panel of representatives from the educational field and professional grant writers. The school received $360,000. While 101 entities applied for the funding, only 66 were approved including eight charter schools. The funding is for the 2010-11 fiscal year. In 2011-12 - $240,000 and in 2012-13 - $240,000.
;Race to the Top grant
Roberto Clemente Charter School officials applied for the federal Race to the Top grant which would have provided one half million dollars, in additional federal funding, to improve student academic achievement. Participation required the administration, the school board and the local teachers to sign an agreement to prioritize improving student academic success. In Pennsylvania, 120 public school districts and 56 charter schools agreed to participate. Pennsylvania was not approved for the grant. The failure of districts to agree to participate was cited as one reason that Pennsylvania was not approved.

Food services and health services

Roberto Clemente Charter School offers both a free school breakfast and a free or reduced-price lunch to children in low-income families. All students attending the school can eat breakfast and lunch. Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level are provided a breakfast and lunch at no cost to the family. Children from families with incomes between 130 and 185 percent of the federal poverty level can be charged no more than 30 cents per breakfast. A foster child whose care and placement is the responsibility of the State or who is placed by a court with a caretaker household is eligible for both a free breakfast and a free lunch. Runaway, homeless and Migrant Youth are also automatically eligible for free meals. The meals are partially funded with federal dollars through the United States Department of Agriculture.
In 2013, the USDA issued new restrictions to foods in public schools. The rules apply to foods and beverages sold on all public school campuses during the day. They limit vending machine snacks to a maximum of 200 calories per item. Additionally, all snack foods sold at school must meet competitive nutrient standards, meaning they must have fruits, vegetables, dairy or protein in them or contain at least 10 percent of the daily value of fiber, calcium, potassium, and Vitamin D. In order to comply with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 all US public school districts are required to raise the price of their school lunches to $2.60 regardless of the actual cost of providing the lunch. In 2014, President Obama ordered a prohibition of advertisements for unhealthy foods on public school campuses during the school day.
Roberto Clemente Charter School provides health services as mandated by the Commonwealth and the federal government. The nurses are contracted from the Allentown School District. Nurses conduct annual health screenings and to dispense prescribed medications to students during the school day. Students are excluded from school unless they comply with all the State Department of Health's extensive immunization mandates. School nurses monitor each pupil for this compliance. Nurses also monitor each child's weight. Dental exams are performed on students by a dental hygienist from the Allentown School District.

Extracurriculars

By Pennsylvania law, all K-12 students residing in a public school district, including those who attend a private nonpublic school, cyber charter school, charter school and those homeschooled, are eligible to participate in the extracurricular programs including all athletics. They must meet the same eligibility rules as the students enrolled in the district's schools.