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Tassajara Prep Charter Petition Submitted to DUSD

January 11, 2010 | Topics: Announcements

Scheduled to open in Dublin, CA, Fall 2012, Tassajara Prep will provide a comprehensive college-prep environment that represents the highest academic and civic standards for all students, establishing a solid foundation for success in premier universities and beyond through rigorous curricula, innovative teaching practices, an expanded choice of Advanced Placement (AP) courses and extracurricular enrichment programs, and integration of the latest technology in the classroom.

Tassajara Prep’s Charter Committee submitted the petition to the Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) on Monday, January 11, 2010. Superintendent Stephen Hanke personally signed for the charter petition at exactly 11:25AM. The main body of the charter petition explains the founders’ vision for Tassajara Prep, what we promise our students, and objective measures for our success. The appendices of the charter petition include, among other important items, a draft course catalog of Tassajara Prep and a detailed fiscal plan with a five-year budget projection and a three-year cash flow projection.

Tassajara Prep Already Having a Positive Impact on Dublin

December 31, 2009 | Topics: Perspectives

Dublin, CA 94568 Tassajara Prep

The founders of Tassajara Prep strongly believe in the positive impact a charter public high school will have on the education of all students throughout Dublin. Tassajara Prep will receive money from the same funding sources as Dublin High School. That money belongs to the students and should, therefore, follow the students to the school that best meets their needs. The competition for enrollment will naturally motivate both the charter public school and traditional public school to focus on the students. Cities like Pleasanton, San Ramon, and Danville have thrived with two public high schools, and Dublin will be no different. In fact, the founders are delighted that Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) is already responding constructively to the competitive pressure exerted by Tassajara Prep, long before the school’s grand opening.

Tassajara Prep Fact Check

December 25, 2009 | Topics: Perspectives

The founders of Tassajara Prep would like to thank everyone who took the time to attend the recent town hall meetings. We received tremendous feedback from supporters who are excited about the promise of Tassajara Prep and stakeholders who expressed concerns. The concerns raised fall into four distinct categories:

Are Small Schools Better For Students?

November 11, 2009 | Topics: News in Education

small-class

Most folks take note when Bill and Melinda Gates contribute to a cause. One of the movements that Bill and Melinda Gates are supporting is the establishment of “small schools” in America.

Parents in Dublin have commonly heard that students are better served by a high school of more than 2,000 students than by a smaller high school of 1,000-1,200 students. However, recent studies have shown that a host of benefits that can be enjoyed by schools comprised of smaller learning environments:

Higher student academic achievement
Students have greater visibility with teachers
Reduced violence and disruptive behavior
Improved attendance and graduation rates – this translates into more state funding that can be used to support school programs
Increased teacher satisfaction
Greater cost-effectiveness in terms of amount spent to educate each graduating student

Tassajara Prep Day on the Glen Contest Winners Announced

September 22, 2009 | Topics: Updates

winner

Tassajara Preparatory High School hosted a contest at their Day on the Glen booth this past weekend that invited folks to guess the number of round-trip traffic signals between Lorenzo Court in east Dublin (in the magnificent Positano community) and Dublin High School. There are 61 total traffic signals from Lorenzo Court to Dublin High School: 31 going to Dublin High School and 30 on the return trip. The extra traffic signal is at Sybase Drive.

While none of the contest participants were able to guess 61 traffic signals right on the nose, three participants guessed 60 and another three participants guessed 62. With the six-way tie, all six tickets were thrown into a hat with five winning tickets randomly chosen. The first ticket randomly selected won the Grand Prize, the second ticket selected won the first 2nd place prize, etc. Here are the winning tickets:

Day on the Glen 2009, Part II

September 21, 2009 | Topics: Events

sunday-map-featured

The overwhelming positive response from festival attendees continued into our second day at Day on the Glen. We were so surprised by the number of parents that said they came to the festival just to hear more about the new high school. By the time Dublin Learning Corporation packed up our booth, we had collected a total of 30 completed “Intent to Enroll” forms and signed up 159 interested parents and residents for our mailing list. The delight and excitement expressed by everyone about Tassajara Prep was much more than we could have ever predicted. The whole town seems to be buzzing over what we are doing.

Dublin Learning Corporation noticed a significant difference between the parents who stopped by our booth on Saturday and those who stopped by on Sunday. While both groups of parents opened with the standard questions regarding the opening date of our new public high school and its location, parents who visited us on Sunday expressed more concern about their kids’ chances for getting into Tassajara Prep than Saturday’s parents. Parents have clearly noticed the resounding enthusiasm that the announcement of Tassajara Prep has been generating, and now some are becoming worried that the school may not have sufficient capacity for all of the students who will want to enroll.

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