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Lake County International Charter School (LCICS) will host its third annual Live & Give Celebration and Auction from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 7, at Moore Family Winery, 11990 Bottle Rock Road on Cobb Mountain.
This year's theme is “1970s Flashback” – attendees are invited to wear their funkiest 70s clothing or cocktail attire.
Tickets are $25 per person. Although most of the school's fundraisers are for families, organizers said the Live & Give event is only for those 21 and over.
“This is definitely our main event,” said Valerie Moberg, secretary of the school's charter council or board.
She said the event isn't just for parents. “We really want to share who we are with the community.”
LCICS was founded five years ago, said Moberg. Today it has about 100 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, and five teachers.
The school's goal, said Moberg, is to create lifelong learners through the International Baccalaureate methodology, which isn't book-based. Rather, it teaches children to love learning so they're productive citizens of the world.
“There's a very international aspect to it,” Moberg said.
LCICS is a public school, and the only site-based charter school in Lake County, Moberg said.
“We are completely tuition-free, just like any other public school,” she said.
This year the school marked some important milestones, including posting a 19-point Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) score improvement, raising it to 739, and a 100-point jump in its Academic Performance Index, bringing it to 839 points. That 100-point leap was second only to Konocti Unified's Blue Heron school countywide.
In addition, the Western Association of Schools has accredited the school, which also received authorization from the International Baccalaureate World School, the school reported.
Since LCICS was founded, the number of charter schools across California has nearly tripled.
Approximately 809 charter schools with 341,000 students now operate around the state, according to the California Charter Schools Association.
In the 2003-04 fiscal year, there were 382 charter schools, according to the office of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is seeking to lift a cap on the number of charter schools allowed in the state as part of a legislation package that would make the state eligible for $4.35 billion in competitive federal Race to the Top funds.
This fall alone, 88 new charter schools – with 56,000 students – have opened, accounting for the largest single-year enrollment increase in history, the California Charter Schools Association reported.
One in every six charter schools across the nation operates in California. There are 4,900 charter schools educating 1.5 million children across 39 states and the District of Columbia, according to figures provided by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Moberg said LCICS gets funding from the state based on attendance and enrollment, similar to how other public schools are funded.
“We've definitely been hit by the budget cuts just like all the other schools,” she said.
What's different for charters schools, however, is that facilities present a large cost, since they can't float bonds to buy or build schools. “So we have to rely on what the state gives us and donations from the community,” shes said.
The school conducts several fundraisers already – spaghetti feeds and booths at events – and is adding more. The drawing for one of them, a raffle for a side of beef, will be held at the Live & Give event. Individual classes also hold car washes and other fundraisers, she added.
Tickets to the Live & Give fundraiser can be purchased at the LCICS Office at 15872 Armstrong St., or by contacting the school at 707-963-3063 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . D’s Coffee & Tea Shop, 21187 Calistoga Road in Middletown, also is selling tickets.
Tickets also will be available at the door, Moberg said.
The ticket price a complimentary cup of micro-brewed ale donated by the Mount St. Helena Brewing Co., 1970s-themed finger foods created by Chic Le Chef in Hidden Valley Lake, music by local DJ Kevi Kev of KMH Productions, dancing, and both silent and live auctions. Moore Family wines will be available for purchase by the glass or the bottle.
For more information, or to donate to the live or silent auctions, call the school at 707-987-3063 or visit its Web site at www.lcics.org .
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .
