The Loomis Union School District plans to implement the rigorous International Baccalaureate program at a new kindergarten through eighth-grade charter school that will open Aug. 20.
The new Loomis Basin Charter School will undergo a three-year process to become an accredited IB school, which would make it the region's first K-8 school to have the prestigious worldwide learning program, superintendent Paul Johnson said.
Plans are to house the charter in portable buildings next to the existing Franklin Elementary School.
It initially will serve 185 students in kindergarten to fourth grades.
A grade level will be added each year until Loomis Basin becomes a K-8 school.
"The goal is to take those IB strategies and infuse them into all of our schools," said Johnson, explaining that the charter will serve as a laboratory for innovation.
Loomis Basin principal Cindy Uptain and several district teachers and administrators attended an IB training conference last week in Austin, Texas.
Oakmont and Granite Bay high schools this year became the first in Placer County to offer the IB diploma program.
Mira Loma and Luther Burbank high schools in Sacramento also offer the diploma program, and Winston Churchill Middle School in Carmichael offers the middle years program.
Loomis Basin Charter School was conceived by a group of teachers and administrators who went to New York and New Jersey to visit what some consider the finest IB schools in the nation.
In 2006, Loomis school district trustees decided to explore charter schools as an option for parents seeking alternatives for their children.
Due to higher housing costs in the Placer foothills and an older population, the district has lost about 20 students a year for the past several years, according to district records.
In addition to sponsoring a charter school, the Loomis district has fought declining enrollment by merging with the Penryn school district and, last month, with the Ophir Elementary School District.
Loomis Basin Charter School is open to students who reside in Placer County or an adjacent county.
Admission is granted on a first-come, first-served basis.
The school is currently accepting applications for a waiting list, according to the school Web site.
Call The Bee's Lakiesha McGhee at (916) 773-7630.
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