Charter schools can improve education for students in Reno by both giving an educational choice to families and increasing student achievement. By their nature, charter schools provide an alternative to traditional public or private schools, but many fall short when it comes to student achievement. It is up to students and their families to search for schools in Reno that are truly committed to improving student outcomes and are motivated to continually improve in the best interest of their students. On the charter school side, it is essential for schools that are succeeding at doing so to share their discoveries with the larger education community. Here’s what Nevada State High School has learned about how to improve education for students.
• Provide educational choices. Public charter schools that serve to provide educational options to local families do so by exploring best practices and discovering ways that they can scale those practices to the students in their community. In some of the best schools and districts in the nation, and even some of the worst, there exist great teachers and great programs. Charter schools can improve education by incubating the best ideas and methods and disseminating what they learn with their neighboring schools and districts.
• Promote diversity. Education can improve as public charter schools continue to educate in smaller environments and reach a broader group of students. Students learn from each other’s unique experiences, and allowing public charter schools to design programs and entire schools around diversity instead of having forced community boundaries improves education. Public charter schools provide the perfect learning environments to motivate students and families to find ways to improve themselves and others, thereby maximizing academic performance for all.
• Focus on a specific mission. Too often, traditional school counterparts submit to the adage of offering every program available to their students. Although this means a variety of opportunities for students at the school, it often ends up diluting the effectiveness of the programs and the school’s overall goals. At effective public charter schools, you will find staff members and a community of students and their families marching to a laser-focused mission, whether it’s a focus on STEM, college readiness, leadership, or beyond. Successful charter schools have a strong vision for the future and always preserve their core values and core purpose.
Students and families are strongly encouraged to visit their local charter schools and ask questions to evaluate whether the schools both provide an educational choice to families and also increase student achievement. Use this benchmark along with the bullet points above to form your questions and determine how the charter schools in your area are improving education.