Our Vision

The vision of Western Sierra Charter Schools is to create a rigorous, dynamic and accountable learning community that is built upon voluntary association, parent leadership, personalized student learning, and high academic standards for all students. Western Sierra Charter Schools will accomplish these four complementary goals by providing all students and parents with:

1. Personal, experienced teacher guidance and support.

2. Powerful and proven instruction.

3. Ongoing, multiple modality assessments.

4. A large and growing inventory of high quality, standards-aligned instructional resources that offer both breadth and depth in curriculum and auxiliary materials.

Learning Goals:

We are a personalized learning charter school providing the best of homeschool instruction and classroom-based instruction. These two terms “charter” and “personalized learning” by necessity provide the instructional framework for everything we do. Charter schools are required by statute to be built upon voluntary enrollment and staffing, parent leadership and measurable student learning. We put these in to practice the following ways.

• Voluntary- The concept of “voluntary association” is embraced program wide and has broad implications for our school. As a school we do not dictate to students and their parents how to engage the learning material. Rather, we set before them the educational goals and work cooperatively with them in creating customized learning plans that best reach those goals. The students and their families enrolled at any of our campuses are with us by choice. Student desires, strengths, and needs are crucial to how the school works with them as individuals.

• Personalized Learning- All methodology, both curricular and instructional, is built around each student’s needs, abilities, and interests. All students participate with their teacher and parents to create their own personalized learning plan. This is done on an annual basis with regular (at least monthly) evaluation regarding its effectiveness and needed supplementation or change.

• Parent Led- we believe that parents are natural educators of their children and that as such have great potential to be very effective educators of their children. The parents’ priorities, their leadership and their daily, hands-on involvement are essential to the progress and success of each student at Western Sierra Charter Schools.

• A high academic standard for all- Western Sierra Charter Schools is required by law to insure that all students are learning and adequately attaining the academic standards. We believe and are required by law to ensure, that every student can and must learn. Our entire educational structure is built upon and driven toward this proposition.

We accomplish these goals by providing each and every student with:

• Professional guidance- Every student is assigned to a credentialed teacher who works closely with both the student and parent through frequent meetings. The teacher serves as an instructor, guide and counselor for the student’s entire learning program. The teacher insures that each student’s learning needs are assessed appropriately, that their goals are both rigorous as well as reasonable, and that the student is progressing toward the learning goals.

• Direct instruction- Provides standards-aligned, direct instruction in all curricular areas.

• Large variety of high quality, standards-aligned curriculum and instructional materials- We offer a vast and deep menu of learning materials so that we truly have the ability to customize each student’s learning program.

• Variety of assessment options- We provide a multiple measure approach in assessing every student. Each student’s progress is constantly monitored. This information shapes their personalized learning plans.