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A charter school is a
public school operated by a group of parents, teachers, and/or community
members that is responsible to, but run autonomously from, the school
district. Our "charter" is a contract between Ridgeline Montessori and the
School District
4J. The charter spells out the school’s goals, standards,
accountability plan, education design and curriculum, governance and
operations. Ridgeline is a non-profit corporation with a volunteer
board of directors.
While charter schools resemble public alternative schools in
Eugene
, there are differences. Charter schools have access to startup and
operational monies in the form of federal funding awarded through the
Oregon Department of Education. Ridgeline Montessori has been awarded
more than $255,000 in charter school grants to purchase equipment,
instructional materials, and furnishings; provide professional
training for staff; and cover other costs of starting and running an
innovative educational program.
A charter school also has flexibility in staff certification. While
half of the teachers must be Oregon-certified, Ridgeline also employs
Montessori-trained teachers, whose certification process is separate,
specialized, and rigorous.
Ridgeline Montessori is among about 250 public Montessori schools
in the
United States
today, some of which are also charter schools.
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