First of two parts
Less than three weeks after the undefeated School Board turned away the latest charter school seeking to breach Culver City’s iron curtain, the executive director of the ambitious potential next applicant – from Hawthorne – told the newspaper this afternoon DaVinci schools does not want to cause a disruption here.
Present plans call for opening in a southerly corner of Culver City in September of 2013.
No charter schools exist in Culver City, though a number have tried.
“We have a planning year to pull all the pieces together,” said Dr. Matt Wunder, the low-key leader of the school, an educator formerly in Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach and the Wiseburn School District. “We are focused in doing what we think is in the best interests of students.”
The South Bay Daily Breeze (http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/) first reported the development this morning, saying in part:
“Da Vinci Charter High School in Hawthorne is angling to open a new campus in southeast Culver City with an approach so novel it might be without precedent: a one-stop-shop high school, community college and university.
“Under the proposal, students would attend public high school and college simultaneously on the campus of Antioch University. They'd finish high school in five years instead of four, but on graduation day would receive not one, but two pieces of paper: a high school diploma and an associate of arts degree.”
After School Board Vice President Kathy Paspalis had seen today’s Breeze story, she told the newspaper:
“We, basically, already offer this type of program (but for the bachelor’s degree at reduced fees) through West L.A. College. Many of our high school students take classes over at West L.A., and they can obtain an A.A. degree, or at least get well on their way to it.”
In discussing the vision for DaVinci Charter High School, Dr. Wunder described what he said “we are trying to do,” but stressed that “it is not a done deal yet.
“We are trying to work with Antioch University L.A., at 400 Corporate Point.
“As to how we might do it, we still are exploring options. The reality is, we have well over 400 students on our waiting list, just for the ninth grade, at our two current high schools (called Science and Design).
“What we know is, because we are pulling from nearly 70 different zip codes, that unfortunately there are not a lot of good high school options.
“The kids in Culver City are very fortunate.
“There are pockets of schools in Los Angeles, neighborhoods with good high schools. But that is not the case, I would say, with the majority of kids who live in Los Angeles County.”
Dr. Wunder, a founder of Da Vinci Schools, has 23 years of experience as a teacher, counselor, school administrator and entrepreneur in managing public education resources. Dr. Wunder has a collaborative leadership style with a proven ability to motivate staff and build consensus to achieve challenging academic goals. He is a member of the boards of trustees of Palisades Charter High School and Talk Teaching Foundation. As a part-time professor at Loyola Marymount University, Dr. Wunder teaches Business in Education, and he has taught Leadership in Instruction, Learning and Achievement to Master's Degree students. He also serves on two statewide educational reform committees, CERTICC and ACSA-CAPEA, and is an educational consultant for the California League of Schools, where he develops curriculum for school administrators and facilitates professional development sessions. From 2002-2008, Dr. Wunder served as Principal of Wiseburn School District's Richard Henry Dana Middle School, where he led the school to becoming a California Distinguished School and a National Model Middle School to Watch. Prior to working in the Wiseburn School District, Dr. Wunder was a school counselor in the Santa Monica-Malibu and Manhattan Beach Unified School districts. He earned his B.A. from the University of Arizona; his Master's degree, teaching credential, PPS Credential in School Counseling, and Tier I Administrative Credential from Loyola Marymount and his Ed.D. in Education Technology from Pepperdine University. He lives with his wife, Sharrie, and son, Zachary.
(To be continued)
