2010-11 Results

The Novato Charter School Foundation  is a nonprofit organization run by parent volunteers with the sole mission of raising funds to support the Specialty Programs fundamental to the school’s whole-child educational pedagogy and to bridge the gap between the cost of such quality education and the substandard and ever decreasing funding the State of California provides.

The Novato Charter School is the lowest funded school in the County, in a State that already ranks 46th nationwide in per-pupil spending. It does not receive funds from parcel taxes nor receive proceeds from the sale of School Bonds to cover the costs of new construction, expansion, renovation or maintenance of facilities.

Whereas before, the Foundation could focus exclusively on raising funds to maintain the school’s Specialty Programs and invest in its facilities, due to the ongoing fiscal crisis, it is now forced into the business of providing a backfill to State funding for the school’s most basic operations.

The Foundation is pleased to report on its 2010-11 accomplishments:

-          We exceeded the total amount raised over the previous year.

-          New revenues from our spring auction were up 17%.

-          Funds raised at Grandparents Day were 25% higher.

-          Corporate matching donations increased 19%.

-          The average pledge per family was up 6%.

But here is the best part…actually seeing how the parents’ decision to make their children’s education a chief financial priority has paid off: The school continues to offer a rich, broad and meaningful curriculum; we’ve retained all of our talented, beloved teachers and staff, and exceeded our school-wide academic performance goals of 2010-11.