East Palo Alto Charter School Goes Solar

Pacific Gas and Electric Company has selected East Palo Alto Charter School (EPACS) as one of 30 schools to receive an installation of a 1.3 kilowatt solar generation system. The installation of each photovoltaic system and the solar education curriculum are made possible by a $20,000 grant from PG&E's Solar Schools Program.

"In providing these grants, equipment and curriculum, we hope to help educate students on the benefits of clean, alternative energy sources like solar power, and inspire them to become the solar inventors and scientists of tomorrow," said Ophelia Basgal, Pacific Gas and Electric Company vice president of civic partnerships and community initiatives. "PG&E's Solar Schools Program brings together our commitment to renewable energy, energy efficiency and education in a way that will benefit students, schools, and the community for years to come."

The solar system will be the second solar system installed on the EPACS site. A 600 watt off grid system was installed in the EPACS garden developed and managed by Collective Roots.

Collective Roots has partnered with EPACS to introduce multiple technology and science elements into the school garden and curriculum. The partnership has contributed to improving the EPACS student performance in the area of science.

In 2007, a study by researchers from the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley and from WestEd, an education think tank based in San Francisco showed that science education in the Bay Area is on the verge of extinction. Some of a study's findings about elementary school science instruction in Bay Area schools:

• 80 percent of teachers say they spend less than an hour each week teaching science.
• 16 percent of the elementary teachers say they teach no science at all.
• Ten times as many teachers say they feel unprepared to teach science than feel unprepared to teach math or reading.
• Fewer than half of Bay Area fifth-graders scored at grade level or above on last spring's California Standards Test in science.

To see the full report, visit www.lawrencehallofscience.org/rea/bayareastudy.