Former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson Joins CA Charter Schools Association Board of Directors
Posted on: Thursday, 25 May 2006, 15:00 CDT
The California Charter Schools Association today announced that Kevin Johnson, former NBA All-Star and co-founder of St. HOPE -- a nonprofit community development corporation based in Sacramento -- was appointed to its Governing Board of Directors.
"The Association is thrilled to have Kevin Johnson join our board of directors, as he is a proven leader in renewing communities by creating excellent schools -- a philosophy completely embraced by the California charter school movement," said Caprice Young, president and CEO of the California Charter Schools Association. "His dedication to solving the challenges of low student achievement by creating high-quality public schools will benefit the charter community's focus on positively impacting the broader public school system."
Johnson, a native of Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood, founded St. HOPE in 1989 to revitalize his inner-city community through public education, civic leadership, economic development and the arts. St. HOPE works in concert with several other separately incorporated nonprofits founded by Johnson for the purpose of strengthening communities and improving the quality of education available to inner-city youth.
In 2003, Johnson established St. HOPE Public Schools, which currently serves nearly 2,000 students through its two charter schools, PS7 and Sacramento High School. Sacramento High School, Johnson's alma mater and a former comprehensive school, was re-opened by St. HOPE as a charter school and divided into five small autonomous schools, each with its own academic focus, classes and students. The school serves a total of approximately 1,500 students school-wide in grades 9-12. The transformation of Sacramento High School from a failing urban high school into a successful charter school underscores the positive impact charter schools have made in improving student academic achievement.
"As a society today we have one moral imperative and that is to eradicate the injustice and inequality in public education," said Kevin Johnson. "Our independent charter school system is helping to level the playing field for underserved students from the Sacramento area and I am honored to now have the opportunity to regularly share best practices with and learn from many of the top educators throughout the country," Johnson said.
Johnson joins a Board of Directors that consists of Rick Piercy, founder of the Academy for Academic Excellence charter school and chair of the Board of Directors; Ref Rodriguez, founder of the CALS Charter School and board vice chair; Pat Golding, director of Hickman Charter School; Kevin Hall, chief operating officer of The Broad Foundation; Scott Hamilton of the Pisces Foundation; Johnathan Williams, co-director of the Los Angeles-based The Accelerated School and member of the state Board of Education; Steven G. Seleznow, program director for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's education initiatives; Irene Sumida, director of the Fenton Avenue Charter School; Dr. Richard Atkinson, president Emeritus of the University of California (UC) System; Carrie Walton Penner, parent representative; and Caprice Young, CEO of the California Charter Schools Association.
About the California Charter Schools Association
The California Charter Schools Association is the membership and professional organization serving 574 public charter schools serving more than 200,000 charter school students in the state of California. The Association's mission is to improve student achievement by strengthening and expanding high-quality public charter schools throughout California.
CONTACT: Gary Larson Vice President of Communications California Charter Schools Association (415) 722-0127 Sonia Torres Media Relations Manager California Charter Schools Association (213) 618-3801
SOURCE: California Charter Schools Association
Source: MARKET WIRE
Related Articles
- Trombetta: Charter Schools Pushing Public Education to 'Tipping Point'
- Longtime Public School Advocate Kathi Littmann Joins California Charter Schools Association
- National Education Panel Issues 'Framework for Academic Quality' for Public Charter Schools
- Chicago Virtual Charter School Board of Directors Announces City's First K-8 Online Public School
- Charter Schools File Suit to Resolve Funding Dispute With the California Department of Education
- State Grants High Tech High Authority to Open Charter Schools Across California; Actions By State Board Create Solution to Challenges of Opening Quality Schools in Under-Served Communities
- CA Charter Schools Association Appoints Two Veteran Los Angeles Educators to Board of Directors
- Record Growth for California Charter Schools As Enrollment Surpasses 200,000 Students; Enrollment in 84 New Charters, Growing Schools Sets Record at 32,000 New Students
- Roxbury, Mass., Charter School Closed By State
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds