That was two years ago. The only suitable space turned up in downtown Oakland. They wondered if these elementary school-age kids would feel comfortable in such an intensely urban setting, quite different from Fruitvale. They need not have worried.

Children enrolled in the Lighthouse Community Charter school are thriving in downtown Oakland, using the Main Library, Oakland Museum of California, City Hall, Chinatown and Lake Merritt as some of their favorite haunts, say directors of the school Jenna Stauffer and Steve Sexton.

The students have become downtown kids, discovering the wonders of Oakland beyond their own neighborhoods.

They can walk to the Main Library where there is a children's room with books to read and take home when they get their library cards. For some it's the first time they've had their very own.

Exploring Lake Merritt is probably their favorite thing to do. Some students studied the lake and the ballot Measure DD, which aims to greatly improve the water quality there. Voters approved the bond by a large margin, and the students asked themselves, was the

cost of the improvements -- some $187 million -- worth the money?

After learning about water quality and the importance of clean water under the tutelage of Lakekeeper Richard Bailey, a marine biologist, the students concluded Lake Merritt is priceless. They understand why the aerating fountains are much more than pretty decorations for the lake. They are essential to its water quality,

The project taught them how politics works by learning why and how the community was involved in the passage of Measure DD and how a community can be involved in building a better city with their participation.

Educators at Lighthouse Charter call the program "Expeditionary Learning." The kids call it fun as they probe into projects.

Today the school will celebrate its relocation to 12th and Webster streets on the downtown edge of Chinatown with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. That's the large building known best as the Cochran and Celli showroom where the firm sold Chevrolets for years. The school moved there from the former Newberry store on Telegraph-Broadway where students met last year, so they're just settling into their new home.

Lighthouse Charter School has invited some of Oakland's best-known politicians, including City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and Councilmember Danny Wan, state school Administrator Randolph Ward and school board member David Kakishiba, to give the obligatory speeches.

When you see 187 students busy in their classrooms, you're looking at 187 reasons why this group has worked very hard to create a school that meets the needs of low-income kids, most of them aiming to be bilingual, proficient in both their home language and either Cantonese or Spanish and English. Every student is expected to attend college upon graduation from Lighthouse Charter School, and a diverse student population has been recruited from the West Oakland, Chinatown, San Antonio and Fruitvale districts.

The school has classes from K through second and the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. If that seems a strange configuration, it's because the plan is to add grades each year until the school is a complete K-12 school.

Funding is a major challenge for a volunteer board headed this year by Libby Schaaf, aide to Mayor Jerry Brown and former chief of staff to De La Fuente. She's one of City Hall's VIPs.

As with all charter schools, Lighthouse gets average daily attendance money from the state for each day the children attend school, and Title I federal funds for children of low income. Parents who are able (no pressure) pay $5 a week, and the parent group raises money with various projects year-round. Last year they raised $22,000.

The board raises $500,000 a year to complete the revenue package it takes for a $1.5 million budget. Schaaf says so far the board has been fortunate in getting private and public grants and tapping into other sources.

I've visited quite a few schools -- some of them charters, some private and some public -- and I must say there's a lot of creativity out there in education today, despite the cuts that have been inflicted. You can't help but wonder how truly great they could become if they had the money to provide the education all children deserve.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
(510) 208-6447
(510) 208-6477 Fax##
lmclaughlin@angnewspapers.com Email