The Palisades Charter Schools

The Palisades Charter Schools is a consortium of public schools in Pacific Palisades that have received charters from the LAUSD to operate autonomously. The consortium includes Palisades Charter High School, Marquez Charter Elementary School, Canyon Charter School, and Palisades Charter Elementary School. Paul Revere Middle School is in the process of applying for charter status, participating in the charter process through representation on the Charter Schools Coordinating Council.

As charter schools, they are held to higher academic standards, with a goal to provide the highest quality K-12 instruction to an ethnically and culturally diverse student body.

A charter school is a school which receives a grant from a school district to operate independently from most state education code and school district requirements. The charter is granted pursuant to a contract between the school district and the school for a renewable five year period. Within the broad outlines of certain required elements, the school can take whatever form the petitioners seek. In short, a charter school has the flexibility to administer an academic program of its own design in exchange for a commitment to a higher level of achievement and accountability.

Each charter school has a local governing council, comprised of teachers, parents, administrators, and other staff, which makes all decisions regarding curriculum, hiring, budget, enrollment and day to day concerns of school administration. Each school is also a member of the Palisades Charter Schools Coordinating Council, which provides a forum for articulating the K-12 curriculum continuum, coordinating activities, sharing resources and generally facilitating the ability of the Palisades Charter Schools to operate as a community. By working together as a consortium, charter schools have the unique opportunity to plan instruction as a continuos K-12 process and use resources most efficiently across the charter campuses.

The autonomy that charter status confers on the Palisades Charter Schools allows them to focus on curriculum reform without having to ask and receive permission from the state or local school board. As a result, the charter schools have been able to make changes in the school day that emphasize interdisciplinary teaching organized around a central theme, focus on the individual needs of the students, and use creativity in staffing and bell schedules in order to reduce the ratio of students to teaching staff.

While charter schools are funded with the same dollars per student as any other public school, they are also in the position to raise funds independently through grants and donations without going through the school district. This allows for more direct control over the disposition and timing of the funding, and all of the funds come directly to the schools. The K-12 emphasis of our consortium in the context of increased flexibility, gives us a unique vantage from which to apply for grants, encourage local and other business and individual support, and form partnerships with colleges and universities.