The mission of each Springs Charter School is to empower students by fostering their innate curiosity, engaging their parents, and promoting optimum learning by collaboratively developing a personalized learning program for each student.
Hemet Quest made significant improvements in its CAASPP scores, reported Principal Eric Ballard, with a 9% gain in math and a 4% increase in ELA. Eric opined, “This achievement reflects our dedication to academic excellence and the hard work of our teachers and students.”
Springs’ iShine Student Center is preparing for the new school year, reported AllenNeuenschwander, principal. The Center has new laminate flooring and repainted walls; all classrooms have received a SmartBoard for class use. There is a campus landscaping project underway and the Center’s storage room is being converted to a new classroom to accommodate an influx of new students.
Sixty 8th grade students attended Springs’ three-day Boojum Leadership Adventure at Idyllwild Pines Camp, reported Nikkole McAdoo, events and community engagement coordinator. Participants had the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities aimed at honing their leadership abilities. They challenged themselves with a variety of team-building activities, including a ropes course featuring a progression of initiative problems, challenges, and trust activities designed to help students develop positive peer relationships, cooperation, leadership, and increased self-confidence and self-esteem.
Ciana Quiza is a 10th-grade student with the Journey program who maintains a 4.0 GPA and is a gifted young golfer. She maintains a handicap of 1.6+ and competes with multiple tournament organizations. Her best finish in the past season was at the AJGA Stealth Junior All-Star Qualifier during which she shot a score of +3 (75) to place 7th in the qualifying tournament.
Springs’ Journey students will have the opportunity to attend High School Ignite on August 15 & 16, 9 a.m. to noon, reported Erin Riley, vice principal. On August 15, students can attend either Santa Ana or Pathfinder Learning Centers, and on August 16, students can attend either Enterprise or Hemet Learning Centers.
Venture Online kindergarten student Agastya Y. is a gifted pianist. He earned a California State Honors Award on his Level 3 Piano Certificate of Merit exam, designated as excellent in sight reading and technique, and for the music pieces he performed. In June, he performed at the California Music Association’s Convention Festival. Click here to listen to him perform.
Charter schools are independent public schools with rigorous curriculum programs and unique educational approaches. In exchange for operational freedom and flexibility, charter schools are subject to higher levels of accountability than traditional public schools. Charter schools, which are tuition-free and open to all students, offer quality and choice in the public education system.
The charter establishing each such school is a contract detailing the school’s mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. In California, charters are granted for five years. At the end of the term, the entity granting the charter may renew the school’s contract. Charter schools are accountable to their authorizer, and to the students and families they serve, to produce positive academic results and adhere to the charter contract.
Like traditional public schools, charters receive state funding based on a formula for each child enrolled in the school. Many charters also do additional fundraising to obtain grants and donations to pay for programs that are not fully funded by state or school district formulas. When lawmakers passed the Charter Schools Act of 1992, California became the second state in the country (after Minnesota) to enact charter school legislation. The intent was to allow groups of educators, community members, parents, or others to create an alternative type of public school.