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.
The Santa Ana Student Center celebrated Kindness week, reported Principal Priscilla Doorbar, “encouraging students to reflect on how kindness can create a better world.”
LaiahMcFee is an 11th-grade student who has thrived in the Journey Homeschool High School program, reported ES SummerKnapp. Ms. Knapp said, “She asks good questions, cheers on other students, shares her perspective, and brings levity to every moment and meeting.”
Bear River Student Center Principal Renee Gooding and Special Education teacher Paul Aguirre dressed as Mrs. Claus and Santa Claus as part of a holiday performance performed by the students’ theater group. Families had the opportunity to enjoy carols sung by students and take a photo with the pair.
Representatives of the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) visited the Santa Ana Student Center, reported Principal Priscilla Doorbar. They toured classrooms and spoke to students to learn about the Center’s academic instruction and classroom culture.
Cruz Castro, a 10th-grade student with Connections Academy at Springs, is attempting to graduate high school two years early, reported Principal LaurieCampbell. He has been taking classes for extra credit in the 9th and 10th grades and has enrolled with Barstow Community College and a private online school to add additional classes he needs.
The Vista Learning Center had a new offering for students grades 5-8, a seven-week science course that included the dissection of a frog. Teacher HollieCheowanich said that students learned about the life cycle of the frog and about different types of frogs before dissecting one. Other dissections, Hollie said, have included a worm, sea star, fish, owl pellet, and squid.
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.