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In June of 1999, the San Juan Unified School District approved a charter school, and that alone would not be big news in California. Something else is attracting attention to this development in the Sacramento suburbs.

Visions in Education (VIE) is a charter school that provides educational services to families interested in home schooling. In this unique parent-public school partnership, a parent serves as the student's primary teacher.

In less than a year, VIE has proven an unqualified success.

Visions serves kindergarten-through-12th-grade students in Sacramento County and eight contiguous counties (Placer, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Solano, Sutter, Contra Costa, Yolo, Sutter, Amador). The Visions school program connects students not previously served by public schools with the resources and services of a respected public school district.

Visions in Education opened in late August of 1999. In April, eight months after opening, Visions had 1,900 students enrolled in the program.

Based on a concept of a classroom without walls, the community and the world become the students' classroom. A credentialed teacher employed by Visions meets with students regularly to monitor progress, provide educational assistance, and assess achievement.

Physical Environment
The Visions in Education Charter School office, counseling center, and technology support center are housed at 6939 Sunrise Avenue, in Citrus Heights. This site is a bustling center of activity. At the office/center, students enroll; staff is hired; services, materials, and support are available for teachers, parents and students; academic and disciplinary interventions are conducted; classes are held, such as quilting and ceramics; and business operations are managed, such as accounting of student expenditures.

Staff
Ethnic diversity and ability to work with difficult students are part of the criteria used in hiring teachers. Teachers provide caring, individualized instruction to meet the needs of all students. A credentialed teacher visits student homes to monitor the daily work of students, to assess as needed and to offer advice to parents on the next assignments. The teachers also advise the student's parent on instructional strategies and activities. Teachers typically work with five to 10 students. Many of the teachers have been home-school teachers for most of their careers. Some of the teachers are retired from full-time teaching assignments.

At this writing, Visions had a staff of 80 full-time and part-time teachers, an enrollment counselor, an administrator, a business manager, 12 clerical assistants, and three technology specialists.

Communication
The school publishes a monthly newsletter to keep home-school parents and students informed of school events, ideas and strategies for learning, classes, and field trips.

Enrollment
As of April, there were 1,900 students enrolled in Visions. Most of the students, about 76 percent, were not previously enrolled in the San Juan district. More than 100 students were concurrently enrolled in community colleges in our local area.

Enrollment in Visions continues to grow. It is difficult to predict how large the school will become. Visions has done no advertising. All enrollments to date have occurred through referrals from current students, parents and other schools.

Many of the high school students who enroll in Visions are at risk of failing, lack adequate credits to graduate, have dropped out, do not feel safe or feel lost in a large high school, are partially or fully employed, or are young mothers who resist day care for their infants.

Other Visions students are unable to meet attendance requirements of a traditional school campus because they are involved in show business, national competitions, or travel a great deal.

Some students choose Visions home-schooling to accelerate their studies. Visions has several 13- and 14-year-old students attending classes at local community colleges. Other students may need more time to master the requirements. Some students earn a GED (General Educational Diploma) instead of a regular diploma.

During the enrollment process, each student meets with a counselor to review the student's academic record. State and district curriculum standards are the basis for each student's individualized academic program. Class schedules are developed to meet student needs and to ensure that sufficient knowledge, skills, and credits are gained for the student to successfully move to the next grade level or to graduate. At this time, a counselor and the parent work together to select appropriate instructional materials, computer programs and textbooks to enable the student to progress through grades and classes.

Each student is given an instructional materials credit to be used for software, Internet services, books, supplies, field trips, a computer and a printer. All equipment, books and instructional materials remain the property of the San Juan district.

Curriculum
The curriculum at Visions includes language arts, mathematics, social science, science, fine arts, physical education and other electives as determined by student needs. Technology skills and literacy are major parts of the home-school program with technical support provided by Visions staff. Student materials are furnished by Visions and students are on individualized educational plans. Students work on computers during a part of their instruction, which includes research on the Internet. Several computer software programs provide instruction and assessment.

Many of our parents and students report that a day in the life of a home-schooler might resemble a traditional school day. In an experienced home-school situation, the student and the parent would begin lessons in math about 8:30 a.m. Students would have some drill, some textbook work and some hands-on activities to reinforce the lesson. The next hour would involve reading and comprehension with structured questions and activities. The third hour might be centered around social science, or it could include a video, a trip to a local site, such as Sutter's Fort, and writing activities. After lunch, a student might read some science-related materials and perhaps work on a project. A field trip to a site, such as Folsom Dam, to study hydro-electric generation would also be appropriate. A student working on a government class may visit the State Capitol and view a legislative session. Part of the day would also include physical activities and perhaps art or music. Writing is included in all of the core subjects.

High-risk students may work during the day and be unable to attend the traditional high school term and daily schedule. Their study day might begin in the evening or on weekends. Some of these students have failed classes during the last one or two semesters and desperately wish to graduate. Enrolling in Visions affords students the opportunity to earn credits toward graduation in subject areas where they may have formerly failed. Visions allows students to work on a few subjects at a time rather than five or six subjects offered in a traditional high school day.

Visions has established a partnership with schools within the San Juan district. Some Visions students are participating in sports at Bella Vista High School. Pasteur Middle School is allowing Visions students to enroll in band and choir. One Visions student recently placed fifth in the countywide Spelling Bee.

During the enrollment process, each student meets with a counselor to review the student's academic record. State and district curriculum standards are the basis for each student's individualized academic program.

Assessment
All Visions students are expected to meet San Juan district standards and pass course exams, district graduation requirements, and the state High School Exit Exam (when developed). Visions students take the state mandated SAT/9 achievement tests. We are anxiously awaiting SAT/9 results to get benchmark achievement data. We will be studying the data to determine our next steps to increase student achievement.

Funding and Future Needs
Many of the expenses involved in starting the Visions Charter School have already been covered by state enrollment revenue. Visions has applied to the State Department of Education for a $250,000 interest-free Charter School loan to fund expansion. Because student enrollment has increased at such a rapid pace, additional personnel, technology and staff training are a priority. A 20-station computer lab with a server is needed. A grant has been written to fund a reading specialist to provide computer-assisted instruction for writing skills. If funded, the grant would serve at-risk secondary students who desperately need reading and writing skills. Because of the large number of books and instructional materials used, Visions is working to develop a media center that will be used both as a resource center and a textbook depository. A grant has also been written to pay for additional media center materials.

Visions in Education is proud to serve an educational need. In its first year, the program has been an enormous success.