Sedona Charter School
Parent Update Memo
September 17, 2007
 As we begin our second month of the current school year, there are several items that the Governing Council wants to communicate to all parents. The first deals with the most recent AIMS results (Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards) and the second deals with an overview of our financial status.

 Regarding AIMS, we have excellent news to pass along to you. Sedona Charter School (SCS) did very well on the standards-based test designed to measure progress in achieving state standards in math, reading and writing. The test was given last spring and the results recently made available both on the Arizona Department of Education web site and mirrored on the Great Schools web side. The later has a link posted on the SCS web site.

 The attached graph shows data taken from the Great Schools web site.  Shown are the classroom average scores for the three subject areas for which the test is administered. We have also presented a simple average of the classroom scores as a measure of total school performance. Information is provided for SCS, the two Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District elementary schools in the Sedona area and the state of Arizona as a whole. The amounts represent the combined percentage of students either meeting or exceeding the state standards.

Overall, SCS achieved a school average of 93% compared to 73% in Arizona as a whole. Underlying data shows that this is also the school-wide average for each of the three subjects tested. While such results will vary from year-to-year, these scores are evidence of the quality of the educational experience being provided at SCS. These results are also a reflection of your commitment to education. Thank you for making SCS your choice and thank you for all that you do to support your child's education.

 Regarding finances. many of you may be aware that the land and buildings that house SCS were acquired and constructed through private bank financing (a mortgage). Servicing that debt obligation consumes approximately $300,000 (25% of revenue) annually. With annual revenue of approximately $1.25 million, we manage our finances closely and keep as many dollars in the classroom as possible. To accomplish this, we minimize administrative costs and actively manage parent volunteer efforts to do the hard lifting to make that possible. We are proud of maintaining an average student teacher ratio tightly centered around the 15 to 1 level despite current funding limitations. Every thing that you can do to support your child's education by supporting SCS does make a difference. Thank you.

Constantly striving to deliver the best possible program, we currently seek approximately $50,000 annually in incremental revenue via fundraising profits and donations- exclusive of tax credit money- to meet expenses. This works out to be slightly more than $300 per student annually (about $9 per student per week). We communicate this to promote greater understanding of the need for fundraising activities as we move through the school year. If you have questions or access to resources that can be utilized by the school or an unfulfilled interest in being a larger part of your child's educational experience than you already are, please come in to the office or contact a Governing Council member and make something happen.

 Writing as part of volunteer members of the Governing Council, we would like to congratulate the family of each and every student for a job truly well done and express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the SCS staff in achieving outstanding results on limited resources.