Springs Charter Schools In Temecula Recognized During COVID-19

Press release from Springs Charter Schools:

May 13 2020

TEMECULA, CA – Springs Charter Schools is one of 10 schools nationwide that will receive an “Above and Beyond” award from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. This year during National Charter Schools Week, May 10-16, the Alliance will honor “charter schools that are doing exceptional work during the coronavirus pandemic to serve not only their own students, but people outside their school community,” according to Alliance Senior Vice President Debbie Veney.

The Alliance is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and advocates on behalf of millions of public school students either attending or wishing to attend a charter school. They are engaged in government advocacy efforts, research and raising national awareness for the charter school movement.

Springs Charter Schools is headquartered in Temecula, California, and serves 9,660 school children, including 6,800 in Riverside County, in a variety of programs. In addition to serving its own students through distance learning, Springs is offering a free, online OPEN Classroom (www.SpringsCS.org/OPEN-Classroom) for non-Springs students grades K-12 and teachers which includes standards-based curriculum in subjects such as math, science, language arts and reading. More than 5,000 non-Springs students are using the curriculum; the students come from all over the U.S., and as far away as the United Kingdom, France, Australia, India, Japan, Canada, Poland and Afghanistan.

“As the state’s classrooms were closing in March, parents contacted us seeking advice on how to continue their children’s learning at home or even wishing to enroll in our Homeschool programs,” said Kathleen Hermsmeyer, Springs Superintendent. “While the pandemic prevents us from accepting any new students until the fall, we were able to share our expertise with distance learning by launching OPEN Classroom.”

“When schools nationwide transitioned to distance learning, it became clear to us that charter schools were setting a model for the rest of the nation on what it looked like to step up and care for their communities in the face of a global pandemic,” said Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “There are many public schools that served their students well in the face of COVID-19, but the exceptional work of our Above and Beyond Award winners embodies compassion and caring for people outside their school community who also needed help. Their work is a model of servant leadership for the rest of the nation,” she added.

Springs Charter Schools are tuition-free, public schools of choice serving 9,660 California school children and their parents. Many Springs parents choose to homeschool full-time, while others choose two to five days per week of a blended model that includes classroom instruction with home study. Springs serves students in student centers in the Counties of Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles. Springs Charter Schools’ administrative offices are located at 27740 Jefferson Avenue, Temecula, CA 92590. Phone: (951) 252-8800. Website: www.springscharterschools.org.

This press release was produced by the Springs Charter Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.