BACK TO SCHOOL DRIVE
September 16 - September 30, 2008

Drop Off Locations:
A and H Insurance, 3301 S Virginia St, Reno, NV 89502
Western Thrift and Loan
Purple Bean
Purple Bean Too

What we are doing?
Collecting school supplies and monetary donations for some of the local Charter schools.

What is a Charter School?
Charter schools have the freedom and flexibility to teach based on the specific needs of the students, and do not follow a scripted curriculum, whereas, regular public schools purchase a set of books i.e. Houghton-Mifflin and follow the curriculum to a tee. Normally, the students will start out in a public school setting and may struggle to fit in due to language or culture or a different way of learning. The teachers at a Charter School have more flexibility to be creative to meet the needs of the students.

Why we are doing this drive?
Charter schools are publicly funded and free of charge to the students that attend them just like other public schools. Charter schools may start out with the same budget amount as other public schools, but 15% of the budget right off the top goes to pay rent, whereas public schools don't pay rent. Charter schools also are individually responsible for paying their own insurance and other expenses. They have to take care of their own risk management and human resources rather than utilizing a district office. Any upgrades that the school needs, they have to contract out & pay for themselves. Any special services that the school needs for its students like occupational therapy, counseling, etc. must be contracted out, whereas the regular public schools have these people on staff. When it comes to the budget for supplies this also comes out of the regular budget and there is often a very great need in this area for Charter Schools due to the other strains on the budget