The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Challenger parents camp out

By Justin Berton

Last year Janine McCaffery arrived at Challenger Elementary School in Sunnyvale with a tent, an air mattress and a sleeping bag 27 hours before registration opened to make sure her 4-year-old daughter was the first child enrolled in the preschool program. With another child ready to enter the school this year, McCaffery drove by the evening before enrollment and noticed that a line was already forming. "I told my husband, 'I'm doing it again,' " she said.

McCaffery represents just one of the more than 100 parents who braved stormy weather and camped outside the school Jan. 20, hoping to enroll their children; the private school has only a few openings each year.

Molly Bauer, who is principal of the preschool and kindergarten, estimated that 30 to 40 spots would be available to preschoolers in next year's class.

Challenger accepts students on a first-come-first-consideration basis to "allow parents who are willing to give an extra effort some control over their child's education," Principal Dave Delgado said.

Those who arrived as early as Saturday morning--four days before the enrollment date--had "a very good chance" their children would join the other 800 students at the K-8 school, he said.

According to Bauer, Challenger schools are continually working on plans to expand. Currently, they are considering opening another campus in the South Bay to accommodate the demand. The organization just opened schools in Newark and San Jose. "As an educator, turning kids away is the last thing I want to do," Bauer said.

Dianna McIntyre, a business administrator with the school, said there is no chance a new school will open by the fall, when students begin classes.

McIntyre also said other sites in both Sunnyvale and Cupertino have been considered, but the public school districts are reluctant to commit to the long-term leases that Challenger seeks.

The competition to get into Challenger schools is stiff because their students score well on national tests.

In each grade Challenger students scored higher than 95 percent of all California students on standardized tests given last year. Eighth-graders, most of whom grew up in the Challenger school system, scored better than 99 percent of their peers in the state.

The schools have a reputation for using unique teaching methods to help young students learn. Delgado was one of the first students to complete the Challenger program more than 20 years ago. He said singing syllables and using music to sound out letters is nothing unique to the students inside the system.

"I only knew I was different because my parents would brag that I could read at such a young age," he said.

Some Sunnyvale parents who were waiting toward the end of the line suggested that Challenger implement a lottery system for enrollment. But Delgado said this would only double the amount of applications, thus decreasing their chances.

Last year about 50 new preschoolers enrolled at the Sunnyvale site. Challenger didn't accept any kindergartners.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 28, 1998.
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