Roberto Clemente Charter School is a small, urban, public

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

located in

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: *Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California *Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County *Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

region of eastern

. The school is located at 4th and Walnut Streets in Allentown. It serves students in grades 6 through 12. As of the 2021-22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 620 students, according to National Center for Education Statistics data. Approximately 94% of the students then enrolled at Roberto Clemente Charter School were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

. In 2011, Roberto Clemente Charter School applied to the Allentown School Board to broaden its program to include kindergarten through 5th grades. The application was denied by the Allentown School Board 5 against-4 vote. The Charter School's board appealed to the Pennsylvania Charter School Appeal Board, which in August 2013 reversed the Allentown School Board's denial decision, allowing the expansion of the charter school. In March 2014, Roberto Clemente Charter School reached an agreement to purchase a school building on Cedar Street in Allentown. Roberto Clemente Charter School is named for

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...

, a 12-time Gold Glove Award winner with the Pittsburgh Pirates whose

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

career was cut short by his 1972 death in a

plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

. Roberto Clemente Charter School is one of four public charter schools operating in Lehigh County in 2013. According to the

Pennsylvania Department of Education The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with publicly funded preschool, K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are directed ...

, in 2012, there were 50,605 children in Lehigh County who were enrolled in public charter schools.Pennsylvania Department of Education, Charter School Enrollment 2012-13, 2013

References

External links

Roberto Clemente Charter School
official website {{authority control 2000 establishments in Pennsylvania Charter schools in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 2000 Schools in Allentown, Pennsylvania Public high schools in Pennsylvania Public middle schools in Pennsylvania