wonderland charter school

The MDE membership is strictly tailored to the needs of the students and proper following of Procedural Safeguards. In fact DISTAR does not fully assess listening, reading and speaking skills just places them at a reading level. This scanned document is also forwarded to the students resident school district as residency verification for billing purposes. This approach did not meet the spirit of the Child Find expectations, as per IDEA and Chapter 14. Currently, Wonderland has 14 of their 79 students accessing special education services, all of whom are receiving speech and language services via an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). These could include psychologist(s), Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, and so on. Wonderlands plan also delineates their Special Education Professional Development which was completed in June 2017. Former Wonderland students currently attending SCASD grades 2-8, on average, performed at the 44th percentile and 53rd percentile in math and in reading, respectively. More. Wonderlands student performance falls well below district performance on state and national assessments. In 2016-2017, five were referred for Multidisciplinary Evaluations. Of those, three hold Instructional II certification and the remaining eight employees hold Instructional I certification. Language for Learning is a highly systematic and explicit program. We are dedicated to having a leadership team working diligently to provide essential resources to help our institution shine. For non-special education students the amount is no less than the budgeted total expenditures per average daily membership of the prior school year minus the budgeted expenditures of the district of residence for nonpublic school programs; adult education programs; community/junior college programs; student transportation services; for special education programs; facilities acquisition, construction and improvement services; and other financing uses, including debt service and fund transfers as provided in the Manual of Accounting and Related Financial Procedures for Pennsylvania School Systems established by the department. Note: As with employee salaries, the required calculation and payment from SCASD to Wonderland is based upon the full SCASD retirement expenses, as required by the PDE. Wonderland administers the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) to all students. Families residing outside of the geographical boundaries of the State College Area School District but within the geographical boundaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and do not currently or have had in the past children enrolled at Wonderland Charter School will be granted fifth priority. In February 2013, Wonderland was monitored by the PDEs Bureau of Special Education. For special education students, the same funding as for each non-special education student, plus an additional amount determined by dividing the district of residence total special education expenditure by the product of multiplying the combined percentage of section 2509.5(k) times the district of residence total average daily membership for the prior school year. State College, PA 16803. On July 31, 2018, Wonderland Charter School sent a letter to its families announcing that the school voluntarily closed its doors. 4. SCASD Board of Directors Votes For Wonderland Charter Hearing. An educator holding a valid Pennsylvania certificate as a K-12 Principal is qualified to perform the following: We asked the PA Department of Education to clarify this certification requirement. Non-Compete Clauses: Wonderlands employment contracts include two non-compete provisions: a prohibition on communicating to anyone the names and addresses of Wonderland families and a prohibition on employment with any public or private educational institution in the State College Area School District, the Bald Eagle Area School District, the Penns Valley School District, the Bellefonte Area School District, the Tyrone Area School District, the Clearfield Area School District, the Altoona School District, the Lock Haven School District, the Williamsport School District, or the Jersey Shore School District through the balance of the school year. Regardless of the local title given the position, if an individual serves in the position of Principal in a charter school, he/she must comply with all related Act 45 and PIL requirements. As per the schools approved charter, along with the charter school law, we requested information about the schools innovative characteristic noted within its mission and the vision sections of its charter: , which includes student learning toward the schools. These numbers indicated the percent of students that scored proficient or advanced. Wonderland addresses its infrequent cases of unexcused absences on a case-by-case basis. The Wonderland curriculum is framed around a direct instruction model for reading. If a charter/cyber school does not employ any individual in a position titled principal, but employs an individual in a locally titled position (i.e. Families residing with the geographical boundaries of the State College Area School District but who do not currently or have had in the past children enrolled at Wonderland Charter School will be granted fourth priority. These could include psychologist(s), Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, and so on. Wonderland does not identify students as gifted; charter schools are not mandated to comply with Chapter 16. Wonderlands special education students only receive speech and language services, while the additional funding of $14,457 per student for these students is based upon SCASDs special education programming, which is comprehensive. Wonderlands current screening process relies on the Terra Nova, DIBELS, and curriculum-based placement tests (published by Scholastic, Inc. for Reading Mastery and McGraw Hill, Connecting Math Concepts). 33 days on Zillow. To help you understand what information we have obtained. This statement represents the districts position at this time: The District, through its administration, has oversight duties and responsibilities, and a legal right to review the operations of charter schools, both at the time of a renewal application, and at any time during the typical three- and five-year cycles for the initial charter and any renewal. Wonderland teachers are the lowest paid in the state, ranking 781st out of the 781 Local Education Agencies. Included are the services of architects, engineers, auditors, dentists, medical doctors, lawyers, consultants, teachers, accountants, tax collectors etc. Los Angeles CA Real Estate & Homes For Sale - Zillow Click to view the updated LAUSD calendars for 2023-24 and 2024-25. There are a total of 83 students and 13 teachers at Wonderland Charter School, for a student to teacher ratio of 7 to 1. The Policy & Procedure Manual does not reference any additional paid time off. This is explained in the Guidelines for Pennsylvania Schools for the Administration of Medications and Emergency: Page 8 - Parent(s)/guardian(s) should administer medications at home whenever possible and should collaborate with their primary care provider to establish medication schedules that minimize administration at school. This is phenomenal! , Section 1414.1. The Office of Chief Counsel advised: Wonderland advised that their Education Director is intimately familiar with each and every teachers work since she reviews all of the teachers monthly lesson plans and calendars and thoroughly vets every students Differentiated Education Plan (DEP) before the start of the school year and the progress updates presented to every parent at Parent/Teacher Conferences. Furthermore, Wonderland notes: The outcome of this methodology is that the Education Director is solidly grounded in what each teacher is striving to accomplish and whether or not the teacher actually met the teaching goals agreed upon for the student. Wonderland's employment contract provides: 4.01 If the Employee leaves the employ of Wonderland Charter School Our team has not seen any evidence that the results of this ongoing progress monitoring have identified any students who are suspected of having a disability, as is required by the Child Find Process. This likely predicts future reading difficulties and could indicate a disability in reading. During our April 9 Board meeting, Dr. Etter shared the legal parameters to your decisions pertaining to charter school renewal. Wonderland Charter School is a school servicing grades KG to 5 and is located in the district of "State College Area School District" in State College, PA. Wonderland employs a part-time Special Education Coordinator (.10 FTE) who is also a classroom teacher. Wonderland Charter School. One student already enrolled at Wonderland Charter School referred for MDE. Wonderland Charter School, State College, Pennsylvania (PA): School Wonderland Charter School in State College, reviews by real people. , the renewal decision begins with the previously submitted Annual Report and may require additional items as requested by the chartering district. Charter schools are required to have at least 75 percent of their professional staff hold appropriate State certification, hold at least a bachelors degree, and demonstrate competency in the core academic areas in which they teach. When a medication must be administered during school hours, the school district should have clearly written policies and procedures that will provide direction and guidance for medication administration to students, which are in accordance with state laws and regulations. The original document that is submitted by the family is electronically scanned and used as substantiating documentation for the Charter School Student Enrollment Notification Form. . $172,000. The Safe Schools report provided by Wonderland lists that there were no reportable offenses to the state. Wonderland provided a roster of 11 professional staff: 10 teachers and one teacher/chief executive officer. PSSA reports provided by Wonderland indicated the below PSSA pass rates for each area from 2015 to 2017. As noted above, SLI services were provided to 1.3 percent of the overall SCASD student population. Wonderland requested in 2017 the third five-year renewal of its charter from the district, which under state law reviews operations and grants renewals for charter schools in its area. Programs under this section shall include instruction in English Language Development.. Wonderland provides from 1 day/year to 5 days/year dependent on length of service and does not permit the days to carry over from one year to another. When Wonderland needs school psychology services, it states that it contracts with the CIU-10; however, the CIU-10 has confirmed they have not contracted with Wonderland during the last five years. (814) 234-5886. Our intent is to help understand how all SCASD resident students perform in a nationally normed assessment following their Wonderland experience. Although we had significant concerns about Wonderlands educational programming, I sympathize with the families and educators affected by this closure. Facebook page. Wonderland Magnet student wins Poetry Award! The remaining 31 students are from school districts in Blair, Centre, Clearfield, and Huntingdon Counties. Page 9 - Federal law, requires the accommodation of students with healthcare needs in order to maximize their school attendance and to facilitate their highest level of functioning and learning. . In addition, the property tax roll records the owners as Harold A. and Marilyn L. Ohnmeis, although Wonderland Preschool & Daycare, Inc. is listed as the landlord on the property lease. DISTAR Arithmetic is also used to teach the fundamental skills and concepts. All student progress is to be closely monitored so that students with learning problems are identified and referred for a multidisciplinary evaluation to determine the presence of a disability and degree of need for special education. We have attached the schools policy manual to this report. Additional compensation can be earned via additional duty stipends and bonuses. Charter Schools / What is a charter school? - State College Area School Re: Wonderland Charter Renewal Review Date: April 23, 2018 As we shared with you on Nov. 30 during your Board visit to the Wonderland Charter School, the school has requested a five-year renewal of its charter. We do not see evidence of a standards aligned curriculum; the reported database is a list of standards, which is not a curriculum. However, we have referenced these principles during our assessment of the Wonderland school. This funding is based upon the districts staffing, compensation, programming and operational costs. Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) to all students. As per the schools approved charter, along with the charter school law, we requested information about the schools innovative characteristic noted within its mission and the vision sections of its charter: Individualized Education Plans (IEP), now referred to by Wonderland as Differentiated Education Plans (DEP), which includes student learning toward the schools benchmark standards. The information below was provided to the State College Area School District Board of Directors June 4, 2018 regarding the Wonderland Charter School's renewal. Wonderlands annual plan report includes its special education plan information. How Are Charter Schools Held Accountable? - Sites at Penn State This report showed no findings or observations for the audit period 2010 to 2014. Charter schools do not submit a three-year Special Education Plan but rather, an annual Special Education Plan Report. The goal was to develop a rating tool that reflected student performance measures and employee observation results. The charter schools annual report should provide an ongoing, comprehensive assessment of the charter schools progress towards its goals. Wonderland reports that it conducts a School Improvement Review every summer which includes the following: how well the students assigned objectives, whether any state or local educational requirements changed, what student weaknesses are prevalent (macro and micro), any new educational curricula being published, any state standards changes, the results of parental surveys, input from teachers, and review of homework, assessments, and student portfolios. Wonderland has no students identified with any other exceptionalities. However, Wonderland provided records of tuition reimbursement paid to teaching employees. Starting in first grade, students participate in the Reading Mastery basal program. In comparison, the three other charter schools in Centre County do have students with other disabilities (other than speech). Attention! In light of the serious concerns we have identified, we propose that you take action to better understand Wonderland Charter Schools practices, as noted in the attached resolution, via a Board hearing yet to be scheduled. Kelly Raudabaugh, Kristin Myers, Jessica Liffers, and Taylor Ammerman. EN. A school leader that functions as a principal or assistant principal is required to complete PIL requirements and be properly certified and designated as a principal or assistant principal. school director) who performs all of the duties of a principal, the charter/cyber school must utiliz. Young Scholars of Central PA Charter School is an educational institution that provides a range of academic programs to students in kindergarten through grade five. They identify ELs by the following steps: Based on PDEs stated requirements, Wonderland is not adhering to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VI, by not following the requirements of the English Learner Identification Procedures and utilizing one of the mandatory screening tools (KW-APT, K Model, the WIDA screen or the WIDA MODEL). DIBELS is a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade. Child find process and procedures are evaluated for their effectiveness. 10/10. About WONDERLAND CHARTER SCHOOL: Established in 1995, Wonderland Charter School is located at 2112 Sandy Dr in State College, pa - Centre County and is a business listed in the categories Elementary Schools, Preschools, Schools, Academic Preschools & Kindergartens, All Other Miscellaneous Schools And Instruction, Schools And Educational Services, Nec, School and School Preschool & Kindergarten. Our audit sought to answer certain questions regarding the School's compliance with applicable state laws, regulations, Continue testing up a level until the student does not pass the test. The regulation states the following: Every school district shall provide a program for each student whose dominant language is not English for the purpose of facilitating the student's achievement of English proficiency and the academic standards under 4.12 (relating to academic standards). , the resolution states: The Board hereby authorizes the initiation of non-renewal and/or revocation proceedings against Wonderland, pursuant to 24 P.S. Wonderland offers its employees free health care and dental insurance plans. Charter schools do not submit a three-year Special Education Plan but rather, an annual Special Education Plan Report. According to the PA Department of Education: The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VI, Language Minority Compliance Procedures, requires school districts/charter schools/comprehensive CTC's to identify EL students. They referred the question to their Office of Chief Counsel. The district spends 68% of their budget on salaries and benefits while Wonderland spends 44%. English. According to Wonderlands documents, Reading Mastery Signature Edition met 95% of the ELA Standards prescribed in the Common Core State Standards. Unabridged Study - Wonderland Charter School. Wonderland Charter School (Closed 2021) - State College, PA Wonderland Charter School contracts services when needed for students through the MidStep Child Development Center, Intermediate Units, or other agencies as needed. Although these above criteria appear to be reasonable criteria for an authorizing boards considerations, these are not contained within the. 3 days on Zillow. See the English Learner Identification Procedure documents below. Over the past 10 years, 83.3 percent of the teachers who ended their Wonderland employment did so close to the 2-year mark; whether these individuals were vested at the time of termination is unknown. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) states that authorizers should adhere to the below principles: Although these above criteria appear to be reasonable criteria for an authorizing boards considerations, these are not contained within the legal parameters for renewal decisions. The Wonderland Child Find Policy (13.5) is attached within the. Leanora was one of 40 honorable mentions out of nearly 2200 entries 8510 Wonderland AvenueLos Angeles CA 90046Phone: 323-654-4401Fax: 323-656-3228, Powered by SchuylerSurveys are powered by Survey Tool. A market analysis of real estate properties in the area showed rates ranging from $88,000 to $105,000. SCASD Taking Civil Action Against Wonderland Charter School PDE requires that each school report specific offenses as outlined in the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS) manual. This plan does not include the data elements, four teacher observation and practice domains, and evidence/documentation incorporated in PDEs Educator Effectiveness System. For example, the Chief Executive Officer, Special Education Coordinator, and School Nurse are all listed in the 2016-2017 Annual Report as full-time positions (1.0 FTE). In the event the number of Letters of Interest (LOI) submitted is greater than the available enrollment spaces, then a lottery is required to be conducted to allocate enrollment spaces. Wonderlands annual plan report includes its special education plan information. Increase learning opportunities for all pupils; Encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods; Create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site; Provide parents and pupils with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system; and. There are several types, some of which are required by professional standards of practice, such as the Individualized Healthcare Plan (IHP) and Emergency Care Plan (ECP); others are required by federal laws, such as a Chapter 15 Service Agreement(504) and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) with medical component. During the visit, we were informed by CEO Kelly Raudabaugh that the observed students experienced the schools general education curriculum where they performed (regardless of age or grade). The composition of the MDE Team varies by the suspected disability of the student. school director) who performs all of the duties of a principal, the charter/cyber school must utilize an Administrative certified educator and identify the individual as Principal in PIMS/PERMS. Heartland Charter School is a tuition-free, public charter school serving transitional kindergarten through 12th grade students in Kern, Tulare, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Inyo, Kings, and Ventura Counties. Note: The differential between the sum of # of Child Find Students plus Transition to Kdg & Transfers on IEPs and the number of students in the column Total # of Students on IEPs is the number of students already enrolled at Wonderland Charter School and already on IEPs from the previous year minus any in the graduating class. The Multi-Disciplinary Evaluation (MDE) is the responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). reimbursement paid to district employees, as required by the PDE. The Charter School implements mechanisms to disseminate child find information to the public, organizations, agencies and individuals on at least an annual basis. The policy shall comply with section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-112, 29 U.S.C. As of March 2018, Wonderland faculty members received no training in special education during the 2017-2018 school year. The CSN collaborates with school administration, faculty and staff to develop plans that best meet the students needs, and serve as an advocate for the student. Students master rote, rational, and ordinal counting; algebra operations; concepts of more and less; simple picture and story problems; column addition and subtraction problems; and work with multiplication and fractions. Teacher Contracts: Nine of the 10 classroom teachers receive annual employment contracts. Assurances of students with disabilities are included in general education programs and extracurricular and non-academic programs and activities to the maximum extent appropriate in accordance with an Individualized Education Program. We have written to the PA Department of Education providing this follow-up information and asking if our conclusion is correct. The State College Area School District Board of Directors will have a hearing to determine if they are going to not renew Wander Charter School's charter for next year. They outline the required procedures for identifying ELs and related policies. Therefore, Wonderland meets the certification requirements with regard to teacher certification. Wonderland Charter School's practices, as noted in the attached resolution, via a Board hearing on July 2, 2018. Outcome was not converted to special education status. The Charter School Student Enrollment Notification Form is signed by the Wonderland Charter School Chief Executive officer (CEO) and then scanned and stored in Wonderland Charter Schools main office computer.

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