> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # SMASH’s approval would be a first for district - URL: https://www.smdp.com/smashs-approval-would-be-a-first-for-district/ - Published: 2003-11-10T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T03:11:24.000Z - Author: John Wood - Tags: Education, Ocean Park, #archive-import *SMASH’s success could influence school board there will have more flexibility in how they craft classes and spend money, and more autonomy in governing the school.* Space at the Santa Monica Alternative School House is already in high demand, but if a proposal being made to the local school board is approved, the K-8 public school in Ocean Park may soon be even more popular. District officials are expected this month to consider conferring the coveted “charter” status on SMASH. If they do, teachers and parents SMASH has already made a name for itself among parents and educators, even without charter status. With enrollment limited to 180 students and teacher-to-student ratios especially favorable, principal Carrie Ferguson said she can place only one-fifth of applicants into her kindergarten class each fall. Students are picked on a lottery basis. “The curriculum is co-created between students and teachers, so there’s a lot more individual child interest in what they study,” Ferguson said, adding that many compare it to the hands-on Montessori-style teaching. “It’s based on constructivist learning, which is much more project-based.” Ferguson submitted a formal petition Oct. 16 to the board of the Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District requesting charter status. The board on Thursday continued the matter until later this month, when district staff will present an analysis of the proposal and a public hearing will be held. Board members will then have 60 days to make a decision on the proposal. If they grant it, SMASH would become the only public charter school in the district. Superintendent John Deasy said he supports charter schools, as long as they’re of high quality. “The charter law was designed specifically to increase choices for students and parents,” he said, adding that charter schools almost always have substantially smaller class sizes. “Charter schools allow for innovation in instructional technique, assessment technique. A charter school provides for opportunities for students to explore, and faculty, a non-traditional governance structure.” But because charter schools receive the same amount of funding as other schools, which is based on daily attendance, some sacrifices have to be made, Deasy added. “What it means is SMASH doesn’t provide things that other schools provide,” he said. “The whole scope of services you might find at other schools you wouldn’t find there.” Ferguson said it has more to do with being a small school than being a charter school. “When you’re a small school you can’t fuel a marching band and you probably don’t have enough students to have a football team,” she said. “And you can’t offer a wealth of language abilities because you have a small staff.” In her petition to the school board, Ferguson said if SMASH is given charter status, the school will expand from K-8 to K-12 and grow its student body from 180 to 360\. Being a dependent charter school will give SMASH several advantages, according to the report. Funding flexibility is one of the most important, Ferguson said, because it allows the school to spend money as it sees fit and also allows it to apply for public and private money available only to charter schools. Most of the outside money is in the form of federal grants available to charter schools, she added. Parent Teacher Student Association president Barry Cassilly said getting that funding will be crucial to expanding to upper-grade levels. Cassilly, who said PTSA participation is always at 100 percent, said expanding the alternative school will benefit students and teachers, but also the cash-strapped district, which would own any property the school buys to expand its classes. “I think we need two or three of them in the district,” he said, adding that he lives in Santa Monica solely so that his two kids can attend SMASH. Being a charter would also give SMASH more flexibility with its curriculum, Ferguson said. By partnering with Big Picture Company, a national organization whose mission is to educate one student at a time, SMASH would “continue its work in delivering a student-driven curricular program... In this model, SMASH students will work with community mentors, family members and SMASH teachers to develop individual learning plans comprised of goals driven by student interest,” the petition reads. Finally, Ferguson lists enrollment flexibility as a key reason SMASH wants to be granted charter status. If it becomes a charter, the school would rearrange funding to ensure that classes of K-8 students are no larger than 20 students and cores of 9-12 graders are no more than 15 or 17 students. The central philosophy is that students play an active part in their education and an active part in society. “SMASH believes that in order to be successful, our students must become active citizens in a democracy that is still being shaped,” the petition reads. It also said there are three critical components to the development of an educated person in the 21st century: Knowledge, skills for functioning in a global environment, and character and a sense of community. “As we seek to educate the whole child at SMASH, we herald his or her character development and sense of place and role in the community as equally important to the development of knowledge and skills.” It’s an approach that students said works. “SMASH is a really fun school because somehow they make learning fun, I don’t know how,” said Emma Becker, 11\. “We do all kinds of fun things. It’s not just like, ‘Read this, do this’ and that’s homework.” > “We do all kinds of fun things. It’s not just like, ‘Read this, do this’ and that’s homework.” — – EMMA BECKER 11-year-old SMASH student Marty Smith, Emma’s mother, said she shares her daughter’s enthusiasm. “When I first put her into SMASH it was in kindergarten and I honestly wasn’t entirely sure what to expect,” she said. “There is a great emphasis on helping a child become a good citizen, and a person who is socially aware and a solid critical thinker.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 10, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111003.pdf?ref=smdp.com)