Friday, Jan. 27, 2012

Los Banos charter school to begin hiring, enrolling

Workshops to offer more information

The process of hiring a staff and enrolling students will kick off next month for Green Valley Charter School.

Tisha Blackwood-Freitas, who is leading the effort to open Merced County's first independent Waldorf-inspired public charter school, said her group is searching for California credentialed teachers as well as parents interested in enrolling their children at the charter school.

Blackwood-Freitas warns that parents should be versed in Waldorf charter schools before deciding to send their children to Green Valley.

"There's been a significant amount of interest, a lot of outside folks that know what a Waldorf charter is and want to help us," she said. "We're still trying to educate people on what a charter school is. We would ask that they attend our once a week parent education workshops."

Blackwood-Freitas said dates for the workshops, which will be held in February, have not been set but parents can check Green Valley's website at www.foundationspublicschools.org, where they will be announced. She said the website will also post the dates for hiring workshops, which will begin in late February or early March.

Green Valley plans to open as a kindergarten through third-grade school in August. The organization will employ a teacher for each grade level, three teachers' assistants, two secretaries and a director/principal.

Waldorf schools utilize non-traditional methods of teaching and focus heavily on the arts and incorporating culture and environment.

Blackwood-Freitas said she's hoping to hire some specialty teachers who speak Italian, Portuguese or Spanish to teach children songs in those languages. She also wants someone who specializes in handwork such as knitting and sewing.

Blackwood-Freitas said Green Valley Charter School has applied for a $570,000 grant that, if approved, will pay for the Waldorf training each teacher is required to complete. Green Valley will know in March if its grant application will be approved.

The school's location has been narrowed to three choices, Blackwood-Freitas said. They are a property at 975 I St., one at 1245 Ortigalita Road near Tractor Supply Co. and a location she declined to disclose.

Blackwood-Freitas said Green Valley Charter School's goal is not to compete with the Los Banos Unified School District.

"We don't look at ourselves as a competitive school, we look to make sure there's a choice," she said.