Journey Homeschool High School senior Cohen Bringhurst was named the Murrieta/Wildomar Chamber of Commerce Student of the Month, reported Nicole Collins, vice principal.
Cohen has been attending Springs schools since 2nd grade. He has a 4.4 GPA and has completed 10 college courses. He has finished a Career Technical Education (CTE) pathway in Health Science and completed an internship at his father’s dental office. When not at school, he is active in his church.
The Classical Community of Orange County at the Santa Ana Learning Center, serving approximately 170 students, recently hosted its first history festival of the school year, reported Linda Larson, homeschool director. This year’s focus is early American history, and all classes spent the fall studying the diverse regions of Native American peoples—exploring their clothing, local resources, homes, and art. The festival served as a celebration of this learning and an opportunity for parents to see the projects students have created over the past several months, Linda said.
Selah Gurkin, a 3rd grade student in Springs’ Venture Online Program, participates in All Star Cheer. The Buena Park resident likes competitive cheer, she said, because it “allows me to move around, be loud, and work with my team.”
Kennedy Brande, a 5th grade student at the Enterprise Learning Lab, is a competitive roller skater. She took first place in the National Roller Skating Championship in Reno, Nevada; her competitions include figures, dance, toe loops, and a creative dance program. She is working to qualify for the 2026 National Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, to be held next July.
The staff at Springs’ Palm Academy is working hard to motivate their students to excel in the school’s ST Math Program, with students in teacher Salina Perales’ 3rd-4th grade class taking first place among the grades, reported Michelle Pantoja, TOSA Admin. The school has also kicked off an Attendance Challenge to improve attendance, she said.
Holden Nowakowski, a 2nd-grade student at the Murrieta Student Center, is the January Student Artist of the Month. His artwork is entitled “Legends in the Outfield.” Holden enjoys drawing cartoon characters, animals, and images from the game Minecraft using markers and colored pencils. Besides art, he likes karate and baseball. When he finishes school, he’d like to be a major league baseball player.
Springs 5th-grade Homeschool student Emanuel Herrera is a budding young artist. In one recent creation (pictured) he drew Luffy from One Piece. Teacher Hollie Cheowanich noted, “Emanuel has been concentrating on advanced coloring techniques, specifically blending different color tones and variations to achieve greater depth in his drawings of characters from comics, cartoons, television series, and movies.”
Virginia Smith, Ruth Newsome, Sarah Adams, and Marissa McLedo recently participated in the IIRP Navigating Conflict: Restorative Practices in the Workplace training, bringing back valuable tools to better support staff and leadership, reported Julianna Hubbell, director of charter relations. The training was a week-long experience focused on building skills for addressing difficult situations and personnel issues in a more constructive and solution-focused manner.
Throughout November and December, all Springs sites and programs are invited to participate in Springs’ Regional Preliminary Spelling Bees. Winners from each program or academy earn the opportunity to advance to the All-School Spelling Bee in January—a showdown where the strongest Springs spellers compete for a chance to move on to their local county competition.
Journey Homeschool High School student John Lenoir participated in the Youth Leadership Forum, a week-long program for high school students focused on building advocacy and leadership skills, reported Nicole Collins, vice principal. Throughout the program, students collaborated in peer groups, created personal and career leadership plans, and built lasting friendships and support networks.
Springs Charter Schools are parent choice schools where the community is our classroom. Our mission is to foster the innate curiosity of our students, empower their parents, and promote optimum learning by collaboratively developing a personalized learning program for each student.
Eagle = Choice, Freedom, Initiative
River = Community
Book = Empowering Parents (Knowledge is Power)
Torch = Curiosity, Passion for Learning
Hands = Collaboration
Keys = Personalization, Unlocking the Student’s Potential
Oak Branches = Continuous Lifelong Learning
