News & Press

December 8, 2006  ---   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chartwell School

Douglas Atkins, Executive Director

831-394-3468 x1012

Marli Melton, Advancement Director

  831-394-3468 x1026

December 8, 2006

 

Seaside, CA – The Board of Trustees of Chartwell School announced today that Chartwell has completed fundraising to meet the Kresge Foundation challenge for Phase I of Chartwell’s new green campus. “We would like to thank everyone who has supported our efforts to build Chartwell’s first permanent home, starting in 1999 when we began raising funds for a new site, to the present day,” said Thomas S. deRegt, Board President.  

Chartwell held its annual Party in a Pear Tree on Friday, December 1^st. More than 220 guests gathered to celebrate Chartwell’s new $13.7 million high performance green campus and to raise funds for financial aid, program enhancements, and Chartwell’s outreach and community service programs. Board members Lyn Higashi and Kay Sullivan were co-chairs. Following the Live and Silent Auction portions of the event, deRegt told the assembled guests that Chartwell also needed to raise $500,000 to complete a $750,000 challenge from The Kresge Foundation. As cheering filled the room, $500,000 was pledged in just 10 minutes, in gifts ranging from $1,000 to $100,000.     “I am truly gratified that so many friends of Chartwell have helped us complete this phase of our campaign to build the new campus on such a timely basis,” said Peter Brooks, Campaign Chair.

“This amazing support shows how much people care about a good school fulfilling an important role in the community, ” said Douglas Atkins, Chartwell’s Executive Director. “There are students everywhere who learn best in a school that knows how to transform learning disadvantages into creativity and success.”   “Teachers may expect very little of them, and yet children who learn differently often have the potential to become some of the most outstanding individuals in any community,” noted Bruce Michels, Trustee and past President. Chartwell parents marveled that people who had never even had a child at Chartwell gave so generously.   Commented one donor, who preferred to remain anonymous,   “I had a miserable time in school. If only I could have gone to a school like this one.”

In 2004, Chartwell received a $75,000 grant from The Kresge Foundation to help support campus design costs. EHDD Architecture of San Francisco designed a school that conserves energy and water, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and uses dozens of other innovative and green features to enhance the multi-sensory, research-based teaching and benefit the students. 

Chartwell applied for a second Kresge Foundation grant, a $750,000 construction challenge, in June 2005, broke ground to begin construction in September 2005, and received notification that the Kresge Foundation had approved the $750,000 challenge in December 2005.           The School opened its new facilities in September 2006. Ausonio, Inc. is the general contractor and Rabobank is providing financing.

The $13.7 million cost includes the 29-acre site, construction of two large classroom and multi-use buildings totaling 22,000 sq. ft., furnishings, technology and equipment, a large sports and fitness field, play areas, and related design, infrastructure and soft costs .

“It has been gratifying to see how the design of the campus has been realized and how people are responding,” said Atkins. “We asked the students to write about the new school. Here are some of their thoughts. ‘I like the new school because it’s new and good for the environment…. I like the natural lighting in the rooms…The radiant floor heating keeps my body very warm…I like the leaves stamped in the cement benches. I like the open ceilings….This school is awesome.’ ”  

“The classrooms show the pipes and structural elements, so students can see how things work,” commented science teacher Jim Kirshner. “ When I asked them to build model bridges this year, we looked up and talked about the support structure for the roof, so they could use those ideas. This year, their bridges held 50% more weight than ever before.”

            Chartwell has already received state level recognition for its green design from the Collaborative for High Performance Schools. It is one of the most energy-efficient schools in California. In early 2007, Chartwell will submit documentation and an application to the U.S. Green Building Council for certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design at the highest level, LEED Platinum. It could be the first school in the U.S. to build an entire campus from the ground up to meet these exacting standards. If the School achieves certification at the Platinum or Gold level, the Kresge Foundation will award an additional bonus grant of $250,000. Funds will help Chartwell add further improvements to the School and continue to expand financial aid.    “Chartwell has increased enrollment by 25% this year, with special attention to diversity and opportunity,” said Nora Lee, Head of School. “Including summer school, Chartwell has awarded more than $440,000 in need-based tuition and related financial aid to its students this year. That’s more than a 33% increase,” according to Teresa Brown, Business Manager. “Awards range from 5% to 95% of 2006-07 tuition of $23,800, and average a little more than 50%.”

            “The Board of Trustees and the donors continue to offer tremendous support,” commented Advancement Director Marli Melton. “Donors feel proud of what we have accomplished, and students feel proud to come here.”   Melton has led Chartwell’s fundraising efforts since 2003, but plans to retire in a few weeks. Chartwell is currently accepting applications to fill that position. “The job just got a lot easier,” noted Melton.

Since 1983, Chartwell School has educated students with dyslexia and related language processing difficulties in a way that provides them with the learning skills and self-esteem necessary to return successfully to mainstream education. Chartwell is the only school if its kind in the tri-county areas of Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz.   Instruction at Chartwell is research-based and emphasizes an explicit, systematic, phonetically-based and multi-sensory approach.   Chartwell currently enrolls 124 students, ages 6-14 from throughout the tri-county area. 

In its Outreach Programs, Chartwell is currently working with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County, offering the free Reading for Life After-School Tutoring Program at both the Seaside and Salinas clubs. Chartwell is helping preschool educators at the Salvation Army Child Development Center in Seaside translate new, research into enjoyable and effective program additions, so that even more of their young students will enter kindergarten and first grade fully prepared to learn and enjoy their school experience.   Chartwell also provides learning support services to various other schools and youth-serving organizations, summer professional education for teachers, and free public workshops and information and referrals. Chartwell plans to begin work with an Adult Literacy collaborative through the Community Foundation for Monterey County during 2007. 

“More than 12,000 students in our region face learning challenges,” said Kristen Atkins, Chartwell’s Outreach Director.   “Many educators, both locally and nationally, have noted the correlation between unremediated learning difficulties and other problems affecting youth, including increased rates of academic failure, school truancy, failure to complete high school, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, and involvement with the juvenile justice system.” Chartwell’s work, both at the school and in the community, aims to help more students overcome the odds and reclaim their potential to be lifelong learners. 

###