Willow Creek Academy Charter

Willow Creek Academy Charter
Click here to view and print the full charter (PDF document)

Mission

Willow Creek Academy is an independent charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade students who demonstrate the ability and promise of succeeding in a challenging educational community. The school embraces, celebrates and welcomes a diverse school community.

Willow Creek is committed to:

Developing students who are self-motivated, competent, self-disciplined and socially responsible lifelong learners.
Partnering staff, students, parents and community to create a unique, challenging and individualized learning environment with high academic standards and expectations.
Applying academic learning to meaningful real-life activities and situations through project oriented programs.
Providing advanced opportunities in science, technology, environmental education and arts programs that foster independent, critical, collaborative, reflective and creative thinking.
Respecting diversity and whole child development – cognitive, emotional, social and physical.

Curriculum & Instruction

Curriculum and Instructional Methods. Willow Creek Academy offers a rigorous and challenging academic program, emphasizing developmentally appropriate, inquiry driven, project oriented instruction. The academic program is organized in a manner designed to encourage the development of higher order thinking skills. The curriculum integrates the “core” disciplines of language arts, mathematics, history/social studies and science through the use of environmental studies and the arts.
Environmental and Ecological Focus. Willow Creek Academy emphasizes environmental education throughout its curriculum. Environmental education provides a framework for interdisciplinary, collaborative, student-centered, hands-on engaged learning which supports the academic goals of Willow Creek. Using environmental education as a basis, students are becoming stewards of both their human made and natural environments.
Physical Education. In order to develop and maintain healthy bodies, students are presented with physical education which emphasizes healthy competition, teamwork and individual skill development. Nutrition and other healthy life style components are included through work in the school garden.
The Arts. The arts (Visual Art, Music, Drama and Dance) are used to integrate traditional academic studies and also to help students appreciate, interpret, experience, create and/or perform artistic work.
Technological Orientation. All classrooms offer a sufficient number of computer workstations and software for each student to incorporate their use in research, review and document production. Students are taught to use technology as a tool for learning and communication rather than as an end in itself.

Expectations of Students

Academic Excellence. Students are expected to demonstrate progressive mastery of academic subject matter. To this end, students are active learners, demonstrating ability to read and analyze material in a variety of disciplines; communicate articulately, effectively and persuasively when speaking and writing; and apply mathematical knowledge and skills to analyze and solve problems and demonstrate scientific literacy.
Life-long Independent Learning Skills. Students are encouraged to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills to become lifelong learners.
Personal Worth and Leadership. The entire Willow Creek program is designed to encourage the development of compassionate, literate students who are prepared to take their place in an ever-changing world. Throughout the time a child is at Willow Creek, the child is supported in their quest to become a self reliant, independent individual who is able to make decisions based on critical analysis of information and put those thoughtful decisions into action. It is also expected that Willow Creek graduates will have learned to work effectively in large and small groups as well as independently on behalf of themselves, their families and the larger world.

Expectations of Parents, Guardians and the School Community

Parent/School Contract. Annually, parents and/or guardians of each student enter into a signed agreement to guarantee the following: that their child is school ready every day; that the parent will be actively involved with the student, fostering good study skills, reading habits, completing homework assignments on time and monitoring the student’s academic progress; that the child’s family commits to providing 50 hours per year per child of volunteer time; that the parents or guardians attend all scheduled parent/teacher conferences; and that the parents or guardians authorize assessments as may be requested by the school to diagnose their child’s academic and/or social competencies or deficiencies. Research overwhelmingly demonstrates the positive effect of parent involvement in a child’s education.
Community Responsibility. Willow Creek students participate in the larger Bay Area community, taking advantage of both institutions (The Bay Model, Marine Mammal Center) and individuals (poets, writers, artists). As a result of the interaction with the community beyond the school campus, students are expected to create service learning projects which enhance both their learning and their contribution to the larger community.

Willow Creek Academy provides a rigorous, inquiry driven, project oriented learning environment that encourages differentiation of instruction as much as possible. The core curriculum emphasizes educational experiences that prepare students to meet or exceed state curriculum standards. The school community is organized into three divisions: Primary (K-2); Intermediate (3-5); and Upper (6-8) to allow for age and developmentally appropriate curriculum and instruction. Willow Creek Academy students are taught and encouraged to identify what needs to be known, assisted in locating needed information and skills and then taught how to take action or make decisions beneficial to themselves and society. The Willow Creek community is organized and designed to encourage students to be active participants in their own education, resulting in well educated, thoughtful and responsible community citizens.