California

PCSD is thrilled to announce our partnership with LA Promise Fund/The Intern Project. PCSD will host two high school students for six weeks onsite in the LA office this summer. We will be providing opportunities to see first-hand development of a project from site selection to completion. We look forward to providing more details as we get closer to the summer.

About LA Promise Fund (LAPF)

LA Promise Fund (LAPF) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to prepare students for college, career, and life. LA Promise Fund creates vibrant community hubs and partnerships that foster motivated, engaged, and directed students poised for academic, professional, and personal success.

About The Intern Project

The Intern Project (TIP) provides public high school students across Los Angeles the opportunity to work in dynamic career areas through paid remote or onsite internships.

Read more about PCSD’s Internship Program

 

School heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems have moved from a behind-the-scenes role to a front-of-house focus now that students have returned to in-person learning. Accordingly, many school leaders and maintenance personnel have begun to wonder whether their HVAC systems are up to the challenge of keeping spaces clean, comfortable, and safe.

Inspections performed at the Education for Change Achieve Academy site (former Hawthorne Elementary School constructed in the 1930’s and expanded in the 1940’s) identified their system as antiquated. Radiators provided heat to all the classrooms and offices throughout the facility. Many of the radiators did not function well and the entire system showed severe signs of wear. The system did not provide for any air conditioning or current day air filtration and, in order to comply with Covid-19 air filtration requirements, the school introduced standalone portable air filtration units into each classroom and office space.

Without a doubt, having a new or significantly improved HVAC system carries plenty of advantages for schools and their occupants. Foremost is peace of mind in regard to the health and well-being of their students, teachers, administrators, staff, and visitors, as a good ventilation system is considered the first line of defense against airborne illness.

Equipment like air purifiers and filtration solutions that use HEPA filters don’t just scrub the air of viruses, germs, and allergens though. They can also remove fine pollutants like smoke and dust particles known to cause physical irritation in some children and adults.

Installing a new HVAC system into an 80+ year old facility over a summer break poses many challenges. As a result, some work was performed several months in advance of the main construction, including remediation of asbestos and lead in ceiling tiles and paint.

A construction of this magnitude required packing up most of the classrooms and administrative areas for the summer. Only a limited area in the classrooms was available for storage. Demolition of existing radiator units, some casework and sinks to accommodate the new equipment all required clearance area to meet OSHA requirements.

With an extensive amount of equipment located on the roof, a roof rehabilitation was also performed. The aged roof was able to be refurbished with an overlay that provided the school with a 30-year warrantied roof.

Staff and students have commented that they hadn’t realized how large of an impact that this HVAC project would have on their school. They are looking forward to the next phase.

PCSD is thrilled to announce that Lighthouse Community Public Schools was able to purchase the property for Lodestar from us a year earlier than anticipated due to support from the Rogers Family Foundation and the securing of a bond. Lighthouse now fully owns their “forever home”.

With Lighthouse’s repayment of the $6.38 million in philanthropic funding for the two facility projects for Lodestar, PCSD has now been able to recycle our fifth project from our Bay Area Revolving Charter School Facilities Fund.

PCSD works closely with our charter school partners to find the most affordable long-term facility solution. Sometimes this means that we purchase the property, develop the facility and lease the building to our charter school partner for several years until they are in a position to secure financing to purchase it from us.

PCSD began working with Lighthouse Lodestar in 2017 to develop a former seminary site in Oakland, CA. This site, located in the Sobrante Park neighborhood, serves as the permanent home for Lighthouse’s second school, Lodestar. Phase I of this project was completed in 2018 with 575 student seats for grades K-8.

For Phase II, PCSD expanded the campus to add a high school facility with 300 student seats. The facility was completed in fall 2020 and, due to the pandemic, finally open to students in fall 2021. The school now has a total capacity of 850 student seats, encompassing grades TK-12.

PCSD is presenting at the CSDC 2022 Charter Schools Leadership Update Conference in Sacramento alongside our partners HJ Sims and LISC.

Education Session:

School Daze: Navigating the Facility Financing Maze
November 15, 2022 | 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm

For many charter school leaders and their boards throughout the country, navigating the need for a high-quality facility remains one of their most significant organizational challenges. Add the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and plotting a course through current and future facility needs has become an even more challenging exercise. Is your school planning a facilities expansion or renovation? Join us to learn the key to planning a successful facilities project and understand the potential cost of that project. During our session, a panel of charter school experts will introduce school leaders to the critical elements of project planning and creditworthiness. We will begin our session with a brief icebreaker to gauge who is in the room and their level of facility financing knowledge. Our four experts will then introduce the critical elements of facility project planning and credit worthiness. Following the panel, attendees will be guided through an exercise that estimates key facility project costs. To conclude the session, panelists will work with attendees in small groups to answer their facility financing questions. Attendees will walk away from our session with the tools to solve their facilities challenges.

Presenters:

• Kahlmus Eatman, Chief Operating Officer, Pacific Charter School Development
• Kaiti Wang, Vice President, HJ Sims
• Crystal Langdon, Director of Lending, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
• Kelly Theofanis, Loan Officer, Charter School Financing, Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Congratulations to Fenton Academies in Sun Valley on completing their new Annex building and elevator project!

The Sun Valley site was originally developed into a facility for two Fenton elementary schools in 2015. This project provides Fenton Academies with an additional 20,000 sf of educational space to house their middle school students, and a new three-story elevator to provide ADA access to the existing parking garage.

You can read more about the project here.

Congratulations to Yu Ming Charter School on opening their Carolyn campus in San Leandro!

Yu Ming will offer their K-3 Mandarin Immersion program at this campus. Formerly occupied by Key Academy, the campus is reusing the existing portable units at the site and is excited to serve more families at this location.

PCSD was happy to partner with them on their continued use application with the Alameda County Planning Department in order to secure the use of this site. Yu Ming started this process with the county late 2021 and received approval in January 2022. Then, they solidified the location approvals with Alameda County Office of Education in order to start operating there for the 22-23 school year.

Yu Ming is a non-profit, tuition-free K-8 public charter school and was founded in 2011 by a group of diverse families. Yu Ming’s mission is to nurture an inclusive and diverse community to become empowered, engaged, and outstanding global citizens. Yu Ming is a 2019 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, a 2020 California Distinguished School and the first Mandarin immersion public charter school in the state.