[August 19, 2011] Yucaipa school raises flag as newest charter school Tweet Aug 19, 2011 (The Press-Enterprise - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Competitive Edge Charter Academy debuted Thursday in Yucaipa. The Yucaipa-Calimesa school district placed the charter school at the former Meadow Creek Elementary School. Administrators hope to attract new students and retain the ones they have with the addition of the charter school. Enrollment totals 466. Charity Molnar said she and her husband enrolled their two sons because the charter school has smaller class sizes and they like the curriculum. The academy also encompasses kindergarten through eighth grade, which will keep them out of middle school and protected a little longer, she said. "It's not just textbook learning," Molnar added. The academy has applied to be an International Baccalaureate school, which offers a more rigorous curriculum. Molnar said the school offers "a lot of cool things for the kids," such as Lego robotics. Based on what her teacher had to say Thursday, 11-year-old Sydney Ilten is looking forward to her art class. "She told us we're going to do a lot of activities," Sydney said. Alex Rodriguez, 10, said he wanted to attend the charter school because of its focus on math and science, which he likes. The charter school also stresses technology and every grade has its own computer lab. In addition, students in third through eighth grades are furnished with Neo2 laptop computers to use in class and at home. Alex said at school Thursday he made the Eiffel Tower out of marshmallows and spaghetti. From the front, the school does not look much different than when it was Meadow Creek, with the exception that it now reads Competitive Edge Charter Academy. Meadow Creek held a flag-lowering assembly when it closed last year. Academy Director Jeff Litel said many students enrolled at the charter school attended Meadow Creek, so the charter school held a flag-raising assembly Thursday. "We felt it was important," he said. The charter school followed up the first day of classes with a "Welcome to School Night." To see more of The Press-Enterprise or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pe.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]