EXECUTIVE MESSAGE 

Dear Partner,

For eight years, Environmental Charter High School has empowered students by providing a rigorous college-prep curriculum that creates endless opportunities for an otherwise underserved community.

Building on the success of our unique learning model—one that hinges upon our community and the environment to inspire and cultivate students to take action—we are excited to share with you the news that we are expanding to create Environmental Charter Schools (ECS), which will extend beyond high school into all grades, K-12!

Through our expansion, we will open the door for hundreds of children who will benefit from a quality education and more choices in their future—an opportunity that will ultimately transform their lives. More than 3,000 students in grades K-12 will learn about environmental issues and how to become effective agents for change, how to implement local solutions to worldwide issues, and how to educate and inspire others with these solutions as they prepare for the new Green Economy.

We have committed to raising $300,000 to support the next phase in our growth, and we are calling upon you to help us achieve this goal. Please help us make this exciting journey possible with your financial contribution to one of our key projects:

Expansion To Serve Lower Grade Levels: ECS is slated to open Environmental Charter Middle School in Gardena in the Fall of 2010. Funding this project will help us secure and develop a campus, hire and train highly-qualified administrators and staff, equip classrooms with furniture and books, and open the opportunity to eager middle school students.

Share our Green Curriculum: Over the past eight years, ECHS has developed an outstanding environmentally based curriculum that takes students beyond the classroom to engage them in meaningful action. With each program, ECHS has seen significant improvement in student achievement, attendance, discipline, and enrollment. This year we will help 10 schools create a successful model based on our programs and best practices. By funding this program, you will help us make an exponential impact on the way education is delivered.

Transform our Campus into the Ideal Learning Facility: ECHS classrooms fall short of the standard for college-preparatory science lab work and instruction. To address this, we plan to build a new science classroom and chemistry lab. So we can extend science beyond the classroom, we also plan to install “Green” rooftops, solar and wind power demonstration projects, and energy efficient lighting – making ECHS’ campus itself an additional teaching tool.

Please join us in building a bright future, for ECS and for the thousands of students and their families whose lives we are able to touch, by making a contribution to one of our projects.

Alison Suffet-Diaz, Founder and Executive Director of Environmental Charter Schools.

TOP STORIES

ECHS Delivers Huge Gains in 2009 Academic Performance Index (API) Scores

Success Story Continues To Show Results

Environmental Charter High School (ECHS), announced that its 2009 Academic Performance Index (API) scores skyrocketed by 51 points over last year’s results to 765. API scores are an overall metric of academic performance based on statewide tests. ECHS’ point gains exceeded California and Los Angeles countywide averages.

Principal Jenni Taylor attributed the performance increase to a number of strategies implemented over the past two years in math and science. Specifically, she noted math program changes, which include requiring all incoming ninth-graders to take a summer math class, as well as a new rigorous standards-based grading policy. With this policy, if students fail to demonstrate proficiency, they must repeat the class or segment until they pass.

According to Taylor, who led the implementation of these strategies, “Key to the success of this approach is that students realize they must become proficient in the material, or they will not pass and will have to repeat the material on a retake test, on Saturdays, or during the summer. Consequently, they realize that they can not simply try to ‘pass tests and get by. They focus more on truly learning.”

ECHS also attributed gains in its API score to improvement in its science curriculum, in particular its award-winning Green Ambassadors class, which became mandatory for tenth-graders starting two years ago. “With our Green Ambassadors class, students are inspired and find meaning in the coursework, helping to improve their academic performance” said ECHS’ Green Ambassadors Founder and Director, Sara Laimon. Students now take three years of earth science and biology, compared with the typical two years required elsewhere.

School Founder Alison Suffet-Diaz Returns as Executive Director, Environmental Charter Schools

Alison Suffet-Diaz, the Founder of Environmental Charter High School (ECHS), has been renamed as the Executive Director for Environmental Charter Schools. Suffet-Diaz will be responsible for driving strategic development, as well as fundraising, fiscal and capital budgeting and planning, and oversight of administrative operations. Her appointment signals the launch of a new phase in the organization's development that builds on the success of ECHS. The Environmental Charter Schools (ECS) plan calls for establishing a network of charter schools including elementary, middle, and high schools to serve under-resourced communities in southern Los Angeles.

GREEN AMBASSADORS

ECHS’ award-winning Green Ambassadors program exemplifies our service-learning philosophy.

It creates opportunities for youth to build leadership skills and address critical environmental issues facing our planet.

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STAFF SPOTLIGHT 

Jenni Taylor

Job: Principal

Educational Background: M.A. in Educational Administration and Preliminary Administrative Services Credential, Pepperdine University.

National Board Certified Teacher. Science Teaching Credential from California State University Long Beach. B.S. in Earth Science and B.A. in Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Experience: Previously the Assistant Principal, Ms. Taylor has been instrumental in the school's growth since its founding. Before assuming an administrative role, Jenni taught math and science at ECHS and creatively designed the curriculum to provide inspiring opportunities for her students to learn outside the classroom walls and make a difference in the local environment. Among her recent accomplishments is instituting the transformation of ECHS' math program, which has contributed to a major increase in the school's Academic Performance Index (API) scores.

Before ECHS: Prior to ECHS, as an outdoor instructor, she led students on adventure trips throughout California while teaching environmental principles. She also coordinated the Life Lab program for an elementary school in Santa Cruz, California.

On ECHS: "I am committed to making sure that all students have access not only to a rigorous and supportive academic curriculum but to enriching experiences that change student perspectives and attitudes towards learning. I am also committed to supporting an environment where teachers and staff continue to grow and learn with the students."

When School's Out:  She is working on her Doctorate in Educational Leadership Administration and Policy at Pepperdine University. Jenni also enjoys traveling, outdoor recreation, and dancing.

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$300,000 FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN NOW UNDERWAY

Expansion to Serve Lower Grade Levels - Fund Drive

A charter petition is now actively pending before educational authorities. Please help us launch Environmental Charter Middle School by contributing towards start-up costs for staff recruitment, student recruitment, enrollment, textbooks, and equipment.    

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Green Curriculum Expansion – Fund Drive

ECHS has created an award-winning learning model that has been recognized for its “best practices.” Its environmental (“Green curriculum”) programs deeply engage students, taking them beyond the classroom walls and inspiring them to learn and give to their communities. ECHS has seen significant progress in student achievement, attendance, discipline, and enrollment in concert with the development of our Green Curriculum programs.

This year, we received California State funding to disseminate our best practices to 10 schools throughout the state. As more schools learn about our programs, the demand to share them continues to grow. Your donation can help us continue these critical programs at ECHS, and expand their reach to other schools, exponentially increasing their impact.

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Science Lab and Green Campus - Fund Drive

Science is critical to our future. ECHS classrooms do not yet meet the minimum standards for college-preparatory science lab work and instruction. They were originally designed for elementary students. Our tiny chemistry area is woefully inadequate for lab classes. We lack sufficient sinks, electrical outlets, and lab space.

Our goal is to expand our students’ capacity to learn science, by funding:

• Science lab indoor and outdoor space, plumbing, fixtures, flooring, furniture, equipment and textbooks
• Solar and wind power demonstration projects
• Windows with sun shading/reflecting systems
• Energy efficient campus lighting

You can help bring our facilities up to the standards our students deserve by making a financial contribution.

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INSPIRED STUDENTS

ECHS honor roll student Genesis Godoy is taking yesterday’s fashions into the future in an astounding new way: Recycled Fashion.

Genesis organized fashion shows highlighting 20 clothing outfits created by fifteen of her classmate from recycled materials. She wants to educate people about the waste that accumulates in the environment due to frequent buying and discarding of clothing, from wasted water and energy consumption in textile manufacturing, to wasted landfill space.

Inspired by her Green Ambassador class, her teacher, and her classmates, she applied for and won a competitive grant from the National Environmental Education Foundation for her proposal to help raise awareness about environmental issues through recycled fashion shows. She is now well on her way towards meeting her goal of holding 15 shows reaching 700 people.

Godoy credits ECHS with pushing her and motivating her to pursue her dreams. “At ECHS, teachers always encourage students to have goals in life and to work as hard as possible to achieve them. It seems like the phrase ‘I can not’ does not exist here. Everywhere you look, ECHS shows you possibilities that you can achieve.”

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95% of ECHS 2009 Graduating Class Admitted to College!

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OUR PARTNERS – A BIG GREEN THANK YOU

We thank our corporate, professional, and community partners for supporting ECHS.  From generous financial and in-kind assistance, to time and expertise, your support is helping us inspire and educate like never before.

Our many sponsors and partners . . .

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EVENTS

This fall, we will be inviting parents and the community to our campus for a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate the opening of our Living Stream and Amphitheatre.   These and other campus improvements are all made possible by the generous support of contributors and partners like you!

2009 Date	Event	ECHS Participation
Fall	Ribbon Cutting Ceremony!	At ECHS Campus
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