Riverside Preparatory School Fall 2010

Parent Newsletter

Inaugural Football Season

The Riverside Prep Silver Knights won the first

Varsity football game in school history in

impressive fashion with a 30-12 victory over the

Baker High School Braves on Friday afternoon.

“It was a good start for our program,”

Riverside Prep head coach Greg Bailey said.

“We’re real happy to walk out of there with a

win.”

The Silver Knights led 30-0 at halftime, sparked

by a pair of touchdowns from Matt Powell. He

had a 15-yard scoring run in the first quarter

and added a 43-yard dash in the second.

Continued on 5

RP Test Scores Riverside Prep Students Score an amazing 829 on the California State Test.

Page 2

Long Term Memory What is Learning? Is there a difference between Long-Term and Working Memory?

Page 3

Friends & Romans Seventh Grade Learns about the Romans.

Page 5

Riverside Preparatory School Fall 2010

2

The results are in! Students at Riverside Preparatory School once again scored above the State’s “gold standard” of 800 with a whooping 829

on the California STAR test. Due to the hard work of students, parents, and teachers Riverside Prep improved 23 points from last year and outperformed the average California school by 62 points. With this result, it is apparent that our students are learning the conceptual information through project-based instruction. Let’s keep up the excellent work and perform even higher this year!

RP Scores High on State Testing

First grade has had a busy first quarter. The big community project informed our students about the many functions that members of our community perform to keep us safe and healthy. Four members of our community took time out of their busy day to come and speak with us.

Police deputy James brought his police car and talked with us about the different jobs that the police do to keep our community safe. He even let us look in his car and listen to the siren. We also had a firefighter come and explain to us how and when to use the 911 systems. Our last visitors were paramedics and EMT’s who came and spoke to us about how they help people in our community. They brought an ambulance with them and even let us walk through it. Finally, we had Dr. Doug Johnson, D.D.S., who came and showed us the best way to keep our mouths clean and free from nasty bugs that will make us sick.

We were also were able to take a field trip to the post office and mailed some thank you letters to all of the people who have helped make our community project such a success.

Fun in First Grade!

Riverside Preparatory School Fall 2010

3

Long Term vs. Working Memory And the Winner Is ….

Learning can be defined as the ability to place information in long-term memory and then retrieve that information on demand. For purposes of this discussion we will divide memory into three sections as postulated by Baddeley and Hitch (2000). The three components of memory according to these researchers are: sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory.

Sensory memory absorbs visual, auditory, and tactile information and sifts it to determine if it is worth moving it to working memory. Once information is placed in working memory it is only retained on the working memory platform as long as it is either needed or relevant. For example, if a person is told to

stop by the store on the way home for milk and bread, that information is only retained in working memory until the items are purchased. After that moment there is no further relevance and the information is “dumped.” Unfortunately, students in most schools utilize information in the same way. The information’s relevance is established as “needed for a test.” Once the test is completed, the information loses its relevance and is “dumped” by the student. While a student may go through school and have success as a student using working memory in this manner, little is

Continued on 5

Riverside Preparatory School Fall 2010

4

Friends, Romans, Californians, Lend our Seventh Graders Your Ears!

In their first quarter project 7th grade students at Riverside Prep studied ancient Rome, learning about the rise and fall of the empire, as well as Roman contributions to modern society. They studied Rome's contributions to health and sanitation through their advanced sewage systems, and development of aqueducts to move clean water through the city. In Life Science students studied various types of cells and the importance of keeping them healthy, including how clean water and sanitation leads to less disease via healthier cells. They constructed a model of a cell with an edible version as well. The project included a field trip to the local water reclamation and processing center where students learned how the Romans’ inventions still influence our lives today. Students were also able to tap into the current election debates going on in our state to make connections, comparing the modern day issues facing Californians to those of ancient Rome, and reflecting on Rome’s influence on our modern day electoral process. Students were asked to answer the question: Is a Roman emperor what California needs today?

Each seventh grader wrote a persuasive essay in the voice of a Roman emperor, assuming his surname, and attempted to convince an audience of their peers why they should be elected as a modern day governor based on their experience as a Roman emperor. Students conducted a primary election, displaying campaign posters around the campus and presenting their speeches to fellow

seventh graders during class. Students voted for those who would move on to the final phase of the elections.

5 Continued on

Riverside Preparatory School Fall 2010

5

Memory - Continued

actually “learned”, i.e., information is not moved into long-term memory.

The real trick is to move information from

working memory into long-term memory. There are several ways of making this move. The most common is repetition. Multiplication, reading, the alphabet and other elementary skills are usually placed in long-term memory by repetition. Unfortunately, as conceptual information becomes more complex, repetition is inadequate to achieve long-term memory acquisition. To move complex concepts into long-term memory nothing works better than experience. The richer, and more relevant the experience, the better the chance of placing information in long-term memory and of retrieving that information on demand. People seldom look back 20 years at their high school experience and remember a lecture. Most memorable high school lessons are attached to an experience.

Riverside Preparatory School uses project-based learning, not so students will have more fun (although they usually do) but because more complex concepts are learned (i.e., placed in long-term memory) when the student is engaged with a relevant experience.

FOOTBALL - Continued

Quarterback Joshua Rowley scored the first

points in school history with a 5-yard keeper, and

threw a 24-yard TD pass to Alex Ruiz in the

second quarter.

Powell rushed for 96 yards and added eight tackles and a fumble recovery on defense. Jason Graham had 12 tackles, including two for a loss, and forced a fumble, and Will Smith added 11 tackles.

Come see the Silver Knights play at Sultana HS – Friday Evening, October 1, 2010. This will be our only home game this year versus Antelope Valley Christian Eagles.

Romans – Continued The top two candidates from each class then gave their speeches in costume before the entire 7th grade class, arriving with pomp and circumstance appropriate for the Roman elite. Parents and administrators were invited to attend the event on Friday, September 17th in the Riverside Prep amphitheater to witness the impassioned debate.

Welcome

To all who joined us this year, welcome! To all of you who have returned for another year, we are glad you are back with us!

Waiting for Superman

If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to see the new Davis Guggenheim film Waiting for Superman, it is a must see for all members of the charter community. Charter schools promote parental choice in education and act as an incubator for creative educational programs. Unfortunately, in their attempt to maintain the status quo, the educational establishment does not always share our enthusiasm for the innovative programs of charter schools.

The Structure of RP’s Governance

When the Oro Grande School Board began Mojave River Academy in 2006 and Riverside Prep in 2007 we were determined that these charter school programs would be accountable to the elected Board. Therefore, while each charter was established as a separate entity, with a separate board, the three-member Oro Grande Board became the board for each charter school. This was a governance structure that worked well for the Victor Valley High School District and Excelsior Charter School for many years and we used it to make sure that our charters also got off to a good start. Later, when we found out that funding and other resources for charter schools were only available if the schools were not-for-profit corporations, we incorporated and filed for 501(c)3 tax-exempt status. Recently, however, legal counsel has advised us that this governance structure (the same board members governing multiple charters) may have potential conflict of interest ramifications. We have, therefore, dissolved our non-profit corporations and are winding them down. Both Mojave River Academy and Riverside Preparatory School are now

From Behind the Scenes Short Messages from the Oro Grande Board of Trustees

organized directly under the Oro Grande School District Board. While this may seem a small thing … and of little concern, unfortunately it provides those Districts who are interested in maintaining the status quo with a few rocks to throw our way. Nevertheless, our programs will continue to operate with the same high academic intensity as they have in the past. We just wanted you to know some of the issues from “behind the scenes,” before the rocks start flying.

Congratulations Pioneer University!

It is always gratifying to see a child crawl, toddle, walk and then run. While Pioneer University was begun by the Oro Grande School District as a professional development program for its teachers, it is gratifying to see that Pioneer has matured into a full-fledged Graduate School of Education.

While the Oro Grande Board is no longer directly involved with the University, we certainly take pride in its accomplishments. Recently, Pioneer underwent a Program Review of each of its programs and the reviewer had this to say: “At the present time, I see no issues of concern with either of these programs. They are advanced beyond what one would expect at such an early stage in their history. It would not surprise me if they are used as models for other programs across the country in the next few years.”

In addition, Pioneer University had its first WASC visit last week toward its goal of accreditation. The comments of the visiting team were very complimentary of both Riverside Preparatory School and the University. It is wonderful to have such a close relationship with a top-notch Graduate School of Education … Congratulations, Pioneer!!