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Excelsior Education Center is an accredited and State-funded charter school. “Accredited” means that virtually every university will recognize our diploma. “State-funded” means that there is no tuition requirement to attend Excelsior Education Center and textbooks are supplied free of charge for the length of the course of study provided the textbooks are returned when the course of study is completed or upon withdrawal from our program.
Our program is a self-directed learning "home-study" program. “Self-directed” means that each student will have a learning plan that is customized for his or her own individual needs. “Home study” means that the home is considered the primary classroom. Once the student is enrolled, they will be assigned to a credentialed teacher. This teacher will facilitate the learning process for the student and the parent or guardian, being the point of contact for any problems that may arise, any assistance needed, overseeing the progress that is being achieved and ensuring proper pace is maintained. The teacher is also the person with whom the student and parent or guardian commit to meeting as a team at least twice a month for appointments (or more often if needed). Every effort will be made by the teacher to accommodate your busy schedule as much as possible.
Unless the student signs up for on-campus classes (which will be discussed below), all of the schooling will be done at home with the following exceptions: on campus testing will be done for unit tests and finals at the end of the semester, also STAR testing and California High School Exit Exams will be done on site. You will be notified of the dates and times when those tests will be done.
The student may also have the option of signing up for on-campus classes. However, if the date of entry into our program is well into the present semester, on-campus courses will not be an option until the new semester begins. On-campus courses are offered Tuesday through Friday. The class schedule depends on the workshops selected and signed up for by the student, so schedules will vary from student to student. Excelsior does not provide transportation so arrangements will need to be made or city transit is also available.
In most cases, the student will also have the opportunity to concurrently enroll at the community college provided the criterion is met. Regarding this endeavor, we recommend that the student be enrolled at Excelsior at least one semester before taking on the challenge of college, and then to begin only with electives. Starting with electives provides the student a slightly less stressful opportunity to get their feet wet with the new college environment to see if it will be a good fit for them. This depends greatly on the student’s level of maturity, self-discipline and self-control. Facilitators or Excelsior’s college coordinator can provide more information.
In order to achieve the utmost success with our program, the student must be committed to achievement, self-motivated, self-controlled, have respect for their parental/guardian, and make sure their work is done with integrity and turned in every week by 8 a.m. Monday morning. The parent or guardian must be committed to their student’s education, overseeing the student’s studies, attending every meeting with the teacher or appointing a designee to go in their stead. Also, both must be committed to good communication between teacher and student, and within the education team of student, parent or guardian and teacher.
Excelsior Education Center is a school of choice and, provided the student has the ability and self-discipline to utilize this program to its fullest potential, can assist students in making up credits if they have fallen behind in their education. However, it is not a school to be used solely to make-up credits and then return to the previous school. This is not conducive to positive learning practices and is not beneficial to the student; therefore, it is strongly discouraged.
Excelsior Education Center offers a wide variety of traditional sports opportunities from which to choose. We have softball, baseball, basketball, volleyball, football, bowling, cross-country, and golf. We also have a ski club during the winter months and other clubs may become available.
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