Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Authorizer:
Monterey County Office of Education
Memberships:
Alliance for Public Waldorf Education
Charter Schools Development Center
A Holistic K-8 Charter School
The school’s emphasis is a solid academic foundation, artistic expression, and social / emotional development. A holistic, arts-integrated approach to learning emphasizes the child’s relationship to the natural world thereby promoting respect for the environment and humankind. The goal is to nurture the whole child with the objective of enabling students to become self-motivated, competent life-long learners.
As a County-authorized charter school, students come from all communities including Seaside, Monterey, Marina, Pacific Grove, Carmel, Big Sur, Prunedale and Salinas. Committed to educating the whole child, the school endeavors to foster the unfolding of each child’s full potential.
Inspire Joyful Learning and Courageous Living!
We are a Head Heart Hands community
- Community
- Experiential Learning
- Creativity
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Integrity
- Self-awareness
- Diversity
What is a California Charter?
“It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this part, to provide opportunities for teachers, parents, pupils, and community members to establish and maintain schools that operate independently from the existing school district structure, as a method to accomplish all of the following:
- Improve pupil learning.
- Increase learning opportunities for all pupils, with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for pupils who are identified as academically low achieving.
- 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 schoolsite.
- Provide parents and pupils with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system.
- Hold the schools established under this part accountable for meeting measurable pupil outcomes, and provide the schools with a method to change from rule-based to performance-based accountability systems.
- Provide vigorous competition within the public school system to stimulate continual improvements in all public schools.”
Our History
The School is Founded
Parents and teachers, inspired by the Waldorf model of education, founded Monterey Bay Charter School. The original Kindergarten was located in Monterey and 1st-6th grades were located in Marina and subsequently in Seaside with a small but growing enrollment. Until 2005, MBCS was a title program of the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District and offered a homeschool component.
New Campus in Pacific Grove
The school moved in 2001 to its current location, a former Pacific Grove elementary school campus. Although the buildings are quite old and in need of refurbishing, there is a large, grassy playground spilling into a forest of coastal live oaks and Monterey pines. School festivals and assemblies are held in the beautiful outdoor areas of the playgrounds.
An Autonomous Charter Status
In 2006, the school was given its first autonomous charter status by the Board of the Monterey County Office of Education (MCOE). During the school year 2006-2007, MBCS faculty and staff began the rigorous process of creating standards-based benchmark assessments to track student progress. The new charter brought about a significant change in the function and governance of the school. The school’s charter with the County eliminated the homeschool component and articulated the school’s new responsibilities for accountability with the Office of Education.
New Campus in Seaside
In the fall of 2007, the two Kindergarten classes were moved to Seaside as the school grew beyond the available space in Pacific Grove. As part of the school’s goal of diversity and accessibility, the school is working to re-locate to the Seaside/Marina area and reunite the Kindergarten with the grades.
Successful Public Charter School
The school currently enrolls 425 students and is growing to 500 with three Kindergarten classes and two classes per grade from 1st to 8th. With an API score of 887, the school has proven successful with stringent State and County testing and accountability standards.
The County Board of Education
At its annual review of the school, the County Board of Education commended MBCS in successfully providing a charter school alternative to the County’s students. In February, 2012, the Board of Education applauded the school on its achievement and approved a new five-year renewal to the school’s charter.
Another Successful Charter & Accreditation
The school was subsequently approved for another five years from 2017-2022 with the Monterey County Office of Education. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) approved another six year accreditation term.
Additional Information:
Charter and Accreditation
Class Size
- Transitional Kindergarten & Kindergarten: 24 students per class.
- First grade: 28 students per class.
- Second through Fifth grade: 30 students per class.
- Sixth through Eighth grade: 32 students per class.
Class teachers typically stay with the same class over several grade levels, enabling a strong understanding of the students and their progress.
Specialty Classes
Student Languages
Language | Schoolwide EL Students (Take ELPAC) | Schoolwide RFEP Students | Combined EL and RFEP Total |
---|---|---|---|
Arabic | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Chinese | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Farsi | 0 | 1 | 1 |
German | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Japanese | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Pashto | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Russian | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Spanish | 12 | 7 (2 Students continue with ELD) | 18 |
Urdu | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Vietnamese | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Total | 17 | 19 | 36 |
Special Education
State Testing
For further information on the school’s State testing results, please see the link below:
GreatSchools.org
How We Are Funded
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