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Lake County International Charter School

Lake County International Charter School (LCICS) was founded five years ago, and today has about 100 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.  LCICS is a tuition-free, K-8th grade public, school that is an authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) World school™ and WASC accredited, providing students with an inquiry-based, enriched education in a nurturing environment. At LCICS, students are taught to become competent and self-motivated individuals with a commitment to life-long learning, enabling them to reach their full potentials as literate, knowledgeable, principled and responsible global citizens of the 21st century. LCICS is the only site-based charter school in Lake County and students from all over Lake County attend.  The school’s goal is to create lifelong learners through the International Baccalaureate methodology, which isn’t book-based.  Rather, it teaches children to love learning so they are productive citizens of the world.

LCICS is a public school, and the only site-based charter school in Lake County.  LCICS gets funding from the State based on attendance and enrollment, (similar to how other public schools are funded).  What is different for charter schools is that facilities are a large cost, and charter schools cannot float bonds to buy or construct the buildings.  Therefore, charter schools depend on community support and involvement to meet their needs.  As with so many non-profits, State budget cuts have hit the school hard.  The school is tuition-free and relies on donations from the school’s families, other community members and businesses.  There are many ways to assist LCICS; if you are interested in supporting LCICS or making a donation click on this link – Support LCICS

For the past two years LCICS has marked some important milestones, including posting a 19-point Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) score improvement in 2009, raising it to 739, and a 100-point jump in its Academic Performance Index, bringing it to 839 points.  In 2008 the STAR scores had increased by 17 points, so to be able to achieve such incredible growth for two years running is proof that LCICS’s system is working. Since LCICS was founded, the number of charter schools across California has nearly tripled.  Approximately 809 charter schools with 341,000 students now operate around the state, according to the California Charter Schools Association.  In the 2003-04 fiscal year, there were 382 charter schools, according to the office of Gov. Schwarzenegger.  This fall alone, 88 new charter schools – with 56,000 students – have opened, accounting for the largest single-year enrollment increase in history, the California Charter Schools Association reported.  One in every six charter schools across the nation operates in California. There are 4,900 charter schools educating 1.5 million children across 39 states and the District of Columbia, according to figures provided by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

An educated person in the 21st century: .

• Understands the core academic content at much higher levels than basic competency.
• Is adept at utilizing information technologies and communication technologies.
• Examines issues from multiple perspectives and world-views.
• Is respectful of themselves, others, and the environment.
• Understands and appreciates the environment as well as humans’ inter-relationship with and impact on the environment in order to better address and assess environmental issues.
• Takes responsibility for their behavior and the effect of their actions towards others and the environment.
• Assesses and solves problems both independently and collaboratively.
• Reflects on their own work, and the work of their peers in a constructive manner.
• Understands the skills of democratic participation such as mediation and conflict resolution, leadership, consensus building, speaking and listening skills and collaboration.
• Communicates effectively in their ability to articulate written and spoken ideas clearly and confidently in more than one language.
• Holds a sense of personal commitment to action and service.
• Is self-directed, self-knowledgeable, and active participants in their communities, in life, and in their own life-long education.

The school conducts several fundraisers; spaghetti feeds, booths at events, and car washes are some of the methods used to raise money.  For more information, or to donate to the live or silent auctions, call the school at 707-987-3063 or visit its Web site at www.lcics.org