Pacific Charter Institute

Pacific Charter Institute, doing business as RIO Valley Charter School, is a U.S. local government entity based in Lodi, California that acts as a sub-recipient on federal education grants rather than a direct federal prime contractor. The organization holds no prime federal contracts or IDVs and operates exclusively as a grant sub-recipient, receiving pass-through funding from the California Department of Education to support K–12 educational programs in high-poverty schools.

RIO Valley Charter School's federal footprint is limited and recent. The organization has received five federal grant sub-awards since September 2025, totaling $294 thousand in combined obligation across two distinct customer agencies. Four of those five awards flow from the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education through the California Department of Education as the direct prime grantee; one additional award originates from the Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition, also pass-through California. The three awards from OESE support teacher quality improvement and student academic achievement initiatives in high-poverty schools; the OELA award targets English-language proficiency for limited-English-proficient students. Activity accelerated in 2026, which saw four sub-awards against one award in 2025, suggesting recent growth in the organization's grant receipt portfolio, though the dollar magnitudes remain modest and sub-recipient status means the organization is not a direct federal customer.

Because RIO Valley Charter School operates as a U.S. local government entity rather than a private or nonprofit contractor, it does not hold SBA designations, does not pursue federal contract prime work, and does not appear on government-wide vehicles. The organization's federal footprint is confined to competitive grant receipt as a sub-recipient within California's primary and secondary education grant ecosystem.