OVERVIEW, PHILOSOPHY, & MISSION STATEMENT
California's public education system is facing major challenges: funding cuts, rapid enrollment growth, growing diversity in the student population, and - in some circles at least - growing dissatisfaction with public education.
The charter school legislation was proposed in part to respond to this dissatisfaction by providing new opportunities and parental options within the public school system. The charter school petition process offers opportunities and potentially even unexpected benefits beyond producing creative new approaches to educating students within the public setting.
Charter schools' relationship with counties and districts can serve as both a model for "new" educational outlooks as well as a laboratory for innovative educational services to the 21st century client. Fiscal conditions are mandating a more prudent and regionalized approach to government services. County superintendent of schools' offices are in the enviable position to best exemplify those practices demonstrating quality customer service, by affording collaborative opportunities to the community at large.
Charter serves K-12 grade students in a variety of educational settings. We are committed to outstanding academic and vocational programs that serve society; provide a positive place to learn and work; and foster empathy, compassion, and respect.
Communication and partnership with clients and staff are central tenets of our mission. We value the open exchange of ideas in a positive and respectful environment. Each student and program has specific needs, which we address through ongoing collaboration as a larger Charter Community School family. Our organization values professional excellence, accountability, and growth. Interdependence and teamwork are critical, and we plan for and invest in creative solutions to address goals and challenges.
We emphasize the development of the whole individual. The physical, social, and emotional health of our clients is developed through a supportive and stable learning environment. We foster a spirit of service and social responsibility. We provide academic and vocational guidance to ensure successful transitions, collaborating with other educational, social, and vocational entities. We encourage lifelong learning so that students will be prepared for the complexity and opportunities in their future and make a positive difference in a changing world.
The Charter Community School's foundation is the basic belief that in order to make a difference in the world and to turn ideas into action we must all be pioneers in our field, contributors of knowledge, creators of solutions, explorers of ideas, and risk-takers on behalf of society through our students. In order to accomplish this task, students and staff must possess some very specific skills: they must have strong perceptions of personal capabilities, significance in primary relationships, personal power, inter- and intra-personal skills, the ability to respond to everyday life, and the wisdom to evaluate situations (H. Stephen Glenn and Jane Nelsen, Raising Self-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent World, Prima Publishing & Communications, 1992). There are four principles which serve as guideposts in the educational program on our journey toward developing these skills. These four principles apply to all individuals who are involved in the Charter Community School: clients, staff, and other educational, social, and vocational entities.
1. Our school serves society. We expect our learning, teaching, and work to make a difference in the world. To that end, we try to discover what is most important to do, and focus our resources for the greatest, most enduring benefit. In doing this we continually remind ourselves of the inherent worth of all of our students and each other.
2. Our clients deserve our best. We expect our service to our clients to be worthy, vigorous, resourceful, courteous, and reliable. In the pursuit of our mission, we intend to be a healthy, creative organization with the financial and inner resources needed to produce our best work. We require ourselves to abide by the highest professional standards and to look beyond the letter of professional guidelines to their spirit.
3. We strive to make our organization a good place to live, learn and work. To demand the best of ourselves, and to attract, stimulate and provide for our students and our staff, we believe we must create an environment that will support innovation, experimentation, and taking of appropriate risks. As a school we should prize the creative participation of each member of our student clientele and our staff. We should welcome the open exchange of ideas and foster the practice of careful listening. We have a duty to actively encourage the personal well-being and the development of each person who learns or works here. We should, therefore, maximize the personal significance and autonomy of each person so that we can all continue to make even greater contributions.
4. We work with regard for one another--students and teachers alike. We recognize the interdependence of everyone who learns and works here, and we expect ourselves to treat one another with respect, candor, kindness, and a sense of the importance of teamwork. We will foster a spirit of service among students and staff so that we may better serve the world at large.