Entries by Ronaldo Gomez

April is National Volunteer Month

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April is National Volunteer Month

National Volunteer Month is a time to recognize and celebrate the world’s volunteers. All across the globe, volunteers show how collective effort can create positive change, and National Volunteer Month is a chance to say thank you for inspiring change and making a difference.

For more information about National Volunteer Month, see here.

About Visions’ Community Service Club

At Visions, we host a Community Service Club in the Contra Costa area. Twice a month, the club gathers to volunteer at the Contra Costa Food Bank and give back to their community.

Home School Academy teacher Karen Moe founded the Community Service Club after being inspired by a former student who used to volunteer with his mom. Now serving as the club advisor, Karen works with another Home School teacher, Tami Muniz, to organize and oversee the club’s visits to the food bank.

“We have eight students, two parents, one grandparent and two CTs [in the club],” says Karen. “It has been wonderful to get to know new students from other regions. Each time, the students learn a little more and are given a little more responsibility, learning valuable leadership and interpersonal skills.”

Karen and the club members continue to learn about the food bank’s mission and the people they serve, and while they’re sorting through produce, sharing their favorite recipes, and telling funny family stories, they have the chance to connect over their shared passion and purpose of giving back.

“It is a chance for all of us to reflect upon our purpose and ways we can help others. I feel like our students have increased empathy for others’ needs, tolerance for people in all types of situations, and awareness of food waste. I hope our Community Service Club continues to grow,” Karen shares.

For the students in the club, giving back is an important part of their every day lives. In serving the members of their community, they’ve come to recognize the value of generosity, selflessness, and helping those in need. Thank you Karen, Tami and our students for your work out in our communities!

Visions Students Become Published Authors

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Visions Students Become Published Authors

On March 22nd, 2024, friends, family and Visions staff gathered at 916 Ink’s Imaginarium in South Sacramento to celebrate the release of this year’s Find Your Voice student anthologies. This year’s books, Banana Bread: How to Read Between the Slices and The Library of Secrets, are a collection of poetry and prose written by our middle school and high school Find Your Voice classes. Students in both classes worked all semester with our Find Your Voice instructors to write, edit, and refine the pieces that they wanted to publish in the anthology.

“It was so powerful to watch as students really grew as a community and embraced the process of finding their voice!” says Find Your Voice and Home School teacher Brittney Pratt.

In honor of the official publication of their books, students got to come collect their copies and read their writing in front of peers and families. Their work ranged from poetry about their dog to stories of love, nostalgia, and growing up, and listening to our students share their writing was the best way to commemorate their hard work.

“I am eternally grateful that since 2011, our leadership team at Visions has been committed to providing our students the opportunity to write in a community and discover the power of their voices,” says Find Your Voice founder and Independent Study teacher Hilary Brugger. “Seeing our students read their newly published pieces in front of family, friends, alumni, and our school staff reminded me how powerful these classes are; not only do they create confidence and provide a creative outlet, but they also foster lifelong friendships.”








Congratulations to this year’s Find Your Voice students, who now officially have their name in print! Thank you families, friends, and Visions staff (plus a Visions alum!) for joining us to celebrate our writers, and we look forward to seeing more of their work in the future!

Want to hear some student readings? Stay tuned for a video coming soon!

Creativity on Display: Students Showcase Their Talents!

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Creativity on Display: Students Showcase Their Talents at Project and Performance Fairs!



Visit Our Facebook Album For More Photos!






The Project and Performance Fairs were a resounding success once again, showcasing the incredible talent, creativity, and passion of the Visions community. Our four fairs, held throughout our service area, were a reminder of the importance of nurturing and supporting the next generation of artists, athletes, scientists, and performers.

As students represented their projects, they explained their inspiration for projects such as handcrafted clay art, knitted apparel, and other works of art. Students shared how their projects worked with one another and focused on building social skills while retaining the information on projects they had worked on.






Performers: Stage Left

Talented students displayed their skills and creativity for all in their performances. From gymnastics to singing to playing the piano, these students showcased their abilities to shine in front of an audience. One of the highlights of the Brentwood fair was a joint performance by two homeschool sisters, Zaylani and Nylah, who performed Grammy-winning songs “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus and “One Moment in Time” by Whitney Houston.






“It was a great experience. Everything from the venue, [the] friendly and accommodating staff, and the overall organization made the entire experience very eventful, fun, and memorable for my children as well as me and my family.” said the mother of Zaylani and Nylah, Nina T., “I look forward to attending more events in the future.”

“For this learning period, we combined our regional events with project and performance opportunities so we had the pleasure of seeing projects and two sessions of live performances by our very own students,” said Christina Jonssson, Charter School Secretary for the Home School Academy and a member of our Events team.



Thank you to nearly 400 community members for their support in preparing and organizing these educational performance fairs! With support from our enrichment vendors, social workers, counselors, and organizational teams such as EASE, TOSA, and STEAM club. These events create a strong learning environment in a fun and interactive way.

Student Spotlight: Taking Personalized Learning To A New Level

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In a black suit, light purple shirt and red and blue tie, Bassam poses for a photo in front of a bright green bush.

Student Spotlight: Taking Personalized Learning to a New Level

For University Prep student Bassam I., technology is at the forefront of his learning. Since elementary school, he’s loved computers, playing around with Scratch and Google Slides at nine years old. At twelve, he started programming with Java, eventually learning different programming languages like Javascript, HTML, CSS, Lua, C#, C++ and Python. By sixteen, he wanted to learn electronic design.

“I love electronics. I sometimes will just take something apart to figure out how it works,” says Bassam. “We live in an age where anyone can get information, any time, anywhere. I am grateful I live in a time where I can learn pretty much anything.”

From deconstructing Chromebooks, calculators, pedometers and power strips to building prototypes of USB hubs and touch screen phones, Bassam has explored the ins and outs of a variety of tech items. Despite his innate skills with technology however, learning these things didn’t happen overnight for Bassam.

“I built a prototype for a USB hub you could connect to via Bluetooth. It took several months of looking through documentation and learning about things like impedance, RF design, micro-soldering and more,” Bassam explains. “I still have a lot to learn.”

Customizing His Experience

Bassam’s interest in technology has continued to be explored here at Visions through things such as his Directed Project, where Bassam was able to focus on subjects that he was passionate about, and the Game Design CTE Pathway. This passion has even taken root in his everyday experience with instruction through SchoolsPLP, which is the learning management system that students like Bassam use to access courses, assignments, grades and more.

Using SchoolsPLP every day made Bassam familiar with the program’s basic functions, so when they made an update at the beginning of the school year, he noticed that the change added an extra button to click in order to access his student portal. To mitigate this, Bassam began creating PLPMod (pictured below), which is a Google Chrome extension that can be used to personalize a student’s SchoolsPLP profile both aesthetically and functionally.

“To develop for PLPMod, it starts with something to change,” explains Bassam. “Let’s say people want to change the background. First, I add a setting into the menu. Next, I use the inspect window. I find the HTML element I want to change inside of this inspector, then I figure out how my program will find the same element. Then I code PLPMod to find this element and modify it or add things there. Just like that we have added a new feature!”

Bassam has added numerous features to PLPMod, including the ability to: create a custom profile picture, create a custom background for the home screen, toggle the GO button for classes, click a “What-If” calculator button that shows what students’ grades will be if they get a specific score on an assignment (according to Bassam, “This was arguably one of the most popular features.”), show grade letters as numbers and vice-versa, show assignments in list form when entering a class rather than going to the latest assignment, click on submitted links to view teacher feedback instead of having to copy and paste the link into the search bar, pin Discussion Instructions, update Logs to keep users updated of new features, and customize the settings menu.

“I have learned quite a lot,” says Bassam. “This was my first ever chrome extension. I learned how to create a manifest (a document describing the extension), how to publish an extension, how to save data in an extension, how to get some feedback and how to fix some bugs.”

Bassam’s amazing work has impressed not only his fellow students, but his teacher, Toby Spencer, and even SchoolsPLP themselves. SchoolsPLP summarized Bassam’s skills with their program in an article of their own, writing:

“In an interview with SchoolsPLP, Bassam discussed how he enhanced the user experience of the student dashboard by developing a Chrome extension mod for SchoolsPLP! The mod allows students to customize their profile pictures and backgrounds, as well as allowing the user to remove the GO button and change the grades from letter grades to number grades, [which] improves both the functionality and aesthetics. Bassam’s innovative approach to the student user interface showcases his talent for UX [user experience] and endeavors in the programming field.” 

Mr. Spencer praises Bassam’s “creativity, ingenuity and computing prowess,” and Bassam credits Mr. Spencer and his CTE teacher, Kim Grant, for supporting and encouraging his passion for technology.

“I’ve never met a single teacher that wouldn’t help me learn the material,” says Bassam. “I’ve also had some really good teachers like Miss Grant! Her class is very flexible, and she likes our creativity on assignments and our own personal projects we share in her Video Game Design class.”

In the future, Bassam wants to go into a career centered around programming or computers. He thanks his family, friends, and teachers for making him the person that he is, and he thanks Visions for giving him the resources and opportunities to explore what he loves.

“[Visions] offers much more than any other high school. The schedule is very flexible and not as rigid as other schools. They also provide you money for school-related activities,” says Bassam. “I like [my] Directed Project and working on my own passion projects for school credit.”

From computers to coding to SchoolsPLP, Bassam has found the program for success, and we look forward to seeing all that he’ll accomplish in the future.

Spring Break is March 25th-29th

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Spring Break is March 25th-29th

Spring break for students and teachers is March 25th-29th. We hope you all have a warm and restful week off!

Our main office and Student Technology Services (STS) will be closed Friday, March 29th. We will resume services during regular business hours on Monday, April 1st.

César Chávez Day of Service is March 31st

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César Chávez Day of Service is March 31st

March 31st is designated as César Chávez Day of Service. Chávez was born on March 31st, 1927 in Arizona and became a prominent Latino civil rights leader and labor movement activist. As a farmer, Chávez advocated for more rights, fair treatment and better wages for farmers and laborers in the United States.

In 2008, former President Barack Obama endorsed César Chávez Day of Service as a commemorative holiday to honor Chávez’s “legacy as an educator, environmentalist, and a civil rights leader.” Chávez’s legacy lives on through the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union (formerly known as the National Farm Workers Association), which he co-founded with Dolores Huerta in 1962. To learn more about Chávez, visit History.com.

Student Spotlight: Turning Failure Into Success

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Student Spotlight: Turning Failure Into Success

When Reagan P. came to Visions in 9th grade, she failed most of her first semester classes. Coming from a brick and mortar environment where she was easily distracted, she had a difficult time transitioning into our Independent Study program. Reagan was determined to stick with it however, knowing that Visions would provide her a “better opportunity” to achieve academic success.

“A difference I noticed between my old school and Visions is that Visions was way more supportive and had way more resources to make sure you were successful,” says Reagan.

With resources such as tutoring, counseling and one-on-one support from a credentialed teacher, Reagan was able to pass all of her classes in the second semester. Her teacher, Patricia Jackson, helped guide Reagan through her academics, and was proud to have been with her on the journey from failure to success.

“My motivation to turn my grades around and pass the second semester was that I knew I wanted to graduate and graduate on time,” explains Reagan. “Also, my motivation was setting an example for all my younger family members.”

“It’s just so inspiring,” says Ms. Jackson. “[It’s] a great turnaround story and can be used to show anything is possible.”

“Never look at failure and give up.”

After passing 9th grade, Reagan continued on to 10th grade at Visions. Passing all of her sophomore year classes, Reagan even went back and retook all of the classes she had failed during her freshman year.

“What made me want to go back and retake the classes that I failed was I wanted to take accountability and show that I take ownership in a mistake I made,” says Reagan.

Reagan’s actions not only show perseverance, but accountability as well, and, as Ms. Jackson says, “It shows how you may fail, but you can use your failure to make a big difference.”

“My relationship with Ms. Jackson is so great,” says Reagan. “She is very supportive and she helped me…become academically successful because she believed in me and she would help me when I had questions.” 

Now, Reagan is in 11th grade and continues to excel in her classes. After high school, she wants to go to cosmetology school, and then eventually go to college to become a psychologist.

“My words of wisdom for students who may be struggling with the same thing I did would be to never look at failure and give up. Turn your failures into success,” shares Reagan. “No matter how bad you think the failure may be, you can always turn it around. Put your mind to it and remember what you want in the end. Also, always remember that in life, you will fail at many things, but those failures will build you into your success. You just have to want it and give it your all.”

Board of Directors Spotlight: Meet Clark Shueh

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Board of Directors Spotlight: Meet Clark Shueh

Please share why you volunteer on the Board at Visions In Education.

I am inspired by Visions In Education’s Vision, Mission, and Values! Children are our future! I volunteer my time, unique talents, backgrounds, and experiences to advocate for them as a meaningful way to contribute to education, bring about a positive, long-lasting impact, and make a difference in the lives of students and families within the community.

What is it about Visions that made you want to be part of our school community?

I met Visions In Education Superintendent Steve Olmos at the San Juan Education Foundation Gala. I learned that Visions is a free, non-classroom-based public charter school that serves over 7,200 TK-12 students in 9 counties. It offers students flexible and personalized service through their Independent Study, University Prep, and Home School programs. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more.

Over the next week, I researched and learned about Visions’ leadership team, teachers, and staff, the innovative use of technology and educational approaches, and the flexibility of education options beyond traditional public schools. Visions is legit with a long, solid track record.

What drew me in was how well Visions served its diverse and inclusive student demographics, including many special needs kids with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). I can fully relate because my son had an IEP throughout his high school years. I am grateful that he is successful because of the partnership and support we received.

How might you describe the difference that our teachers and staff are making by meeting the individual and unique needs of each student?

Each student is unique. Visions teachers and staff understand this and work together to address the social-emotional and academic needs of each student. They employ the appropriate tools, resources, and techniques, including Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), synchronous instruction, educator cohorts, grade banding, and service-based solutions.

What is one way that Visions is making a difference in our community from your perspective?

Communication is key to connecting with our community, and Visions does this brilliantly through The Wire. It is the central newsletter and one-stop shop for our community to stay informed on important announcements, events, stories, news, resources, helpful links, and connections to social media.

As a member of the Board, you have an important policy and oversight role to ensure the school is achieving its mission. How would you describe your role in holding Visions accountable for meeting our goals to a variety of stakeholders, including families, staff, and taxpayers?

As a Visions Board member, I have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest and benefit of our stakeholders, holding Visions accountable to meet our goals and to achieve the mission. I would hold Visions to facilitate clear and transparent communications, collect/analyze/report on relevant school performance data, implement stakeholder feedback channels, establish performance targets and accountability measures with a focus on the goals, conduct regular evaluations and performance reviews against the goals, ensuring financial transparency and stewardship with public funds, and foster engagement and collaboration amongst stakeholders.

What are you most passionate about? How are you able to pursue that passion by serving on our Board?

I am passionate about technology and data and how they play a critical role to inform and help drive Visions’ goals and policies. Visions’ LPAD Student Support System is the clever technology that provides a secure single point of entry for students, parents, teachers, and administrators [and] that integrates and streamlines programs and platforms. Visions’ use of Data-Driven Instruction encapsulates a robust set of ongoing practices that focuses on assessing student learning, analyzing assessment data, and adjusting instruction in response to the assessment data in intentional cycles. These capabilities make a geek like me happy, and I will continue to support them as a Board member.

Please share a bit about your background, family, and what you like to do in your spare time.

My family immigrated to America from Taiwan when I was six years old. I spoke only Mandarin when I started first grade and was immersed in an English-only classroom. I struggled at first, but the more I practiced speaking English, the quicker I learned. In high school, I became interested in technology and enrolled in the Electronics Academy program. I graduated college with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and [have] worked in the High-Tech industry for the past 30 years.

My wife is a 3rd-grade public school teacher, and my son is studying Computer Science in college. My passion for STEM has had a generational influence.

In my spare time, I volunteer with the Folsom Lake Symphony, Bayside Church Folsom, City of Folsom Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Intel Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT), lead an Intel PC Pals team, and lead a music jam band. My hobbies include computers, coding, gaming, STEM, music, painting, photography, culinary arts, HAM radio, medical skills, motorcycling, mountain biking, SUP [stand-up paddle boarding], snowboarding, backpacking, various individual and team sports, reading, writing, finance, and gardening.

 

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Prioritizing your education and developing a growth mindset are the keys that open many great opportunities. Don’t let your circumstances or history determine your destiny. Take ownership of your future, and go do something wonderful!

Superintendent Olmos Speaks to Legislative Representatives

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Superintendent Olmos Speaks to Legislative Representatives

On February 29th, Visions In Education’s Superintendent, Dr. Steve Olmos, joined Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil and charter school leaders from across the state to present to legislative representatives in Sacramento. Organized by The Association of Personalized Learning Schools and Services (APLUS+) in partnership with KP Public Affairs, this event was part of Visions’ ongoing efforts to educate state leaders about what public charter schools are and how they serve their students.

“I’ve been in education for more than twenty years, but this is my third year as a charter school leader,” Dr. Olmos said, commenting on the unique perspective he has as a veteran of established schools.

Dr. Olmos presented a picture of Visions’ student body and some of the learning gains we have made over the past several years to show the positive impact public charter schools have on the students we serve. A brief Q&A session followed, with Dr. Olmos fielding questions alongside his panel mates on funding determinations, teacher credentials, and recent charter school news.

This panel comes on the heels of a year’s worth of Visions’ legislative outreach efforts and successful meetings with the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), California Department of Education (CDE), and the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team (FCMAT). As the legislative session gets underway, Visions plans to continue to seek opportunities to educate and partner with other charter schools and state leaders.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to share Visions’ story with state lawmakers and their staff,” says Dr. Steve Olmos. “I hope to have more opportunities to do so in the future.”

Thank you to APLUS+ and Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil for hosting this event and inviting Visions to share a little about our nearly twenty-five years of success! For more information, please see this event recap below.

Student Spotlight: Tapping Into Passion and Perseverance

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Student Spotlight: Tapping Into Passion and Perseverance

In the summer of 2022, on a stage all the way in Pennsylvania, senior Luke L. stepped out into the spotlight for his last Headliners Nationals performance. In a pink button-up shirt, dark jeans, and bright teal, green and yellow tap shoes, Luke performed his solo “Drive,” earning him second place in the competition and the title of “Mr. Headliners 2022.”

This was Luke’s favorite performance. His mom, Christie, was in the audience, watching her son take “everything he knew and everything he learned” and leave it all out on the stage. Performing is the best part about dancing for Luke, and that day, he got to show the audience his best one yet.

“I was the only person west of the Mississippi there [at Headliners], so that instantly set me apart and gave me a unique edge that no one else had,” says Luke. “I got to perform my favorite genre for people who also loved dancing, with a special twist to it they hadn’t seen before (West Coast style dancing), to a song I loved and choreography I loved more. It was just a perfect storm.”

“He couldn’t have danced any better,” Christie adds. “It was such a proud parent moment indeed. Especially when we traveled home via airplane. His trophy wouldn’t fit in the suitcase, so we carried that thing through the airports and garnered so much attention!”

That moment on the stage at nationals was a culmination of thirteen years of dance lessons, practices, performances, competitions, and more. Although he didn’t initially like dance when he began as a five year old, Luke learned to love the art form, and for mom, it was a way for Luke, who struggles with ADHD, to work through some of his energy.

“I put Luke into tap dance at first because he was always moving, and I thought tap was a good way to channel his energy. He loved tap from the start, if memory serves me well. The other genres came in time!” says Christie.

Luke is now proficient in tap, ballet, hip hop, jazz, contemporary and musical theater, and dances at Northern California Dance Conservatory. Tap is his favorite, as it’s “the most connected with music over any other genre,” and the chance to perform is what keeps Luke moving.

“Performing [is] why we spend hours every single day training. Performing is like telling the world that I’ve spent all this time on this art form because I love it. It tells the audience, ‘Here, I love this thing so much that I break my body to do it well, here’s why you should love it too.’”

Click through the photos to see Luke in action!








Freestyle Learning

Taking into consideration Luke’s learning style and commitment to dance, Christie enrolled him in Visions’ University Prep Academy. Having seen success with her daughter, Luke’s older sister Charlotte, and needing a better option during COVID, Christie felt strongly that University Prep would be the best choice for her son’s education and future.

“I initially found Visions for my older daughter, who graduated Class of 2021. She had special needs and a mental health diagnosis that made traditional school a bad choice for her,” shares Christie. “We started Visions when she was in 6th grade (Luke was in 3rd then). I fell in love with the University Prep program, which became where I wanted my other kids for high school as well.”

For the last four years, Luke has been excelling in University Prep, getting good grades, building a strong relationship with his credentialed teacher, Jesse Dunn, and most importantly, maintaining the freedom and flexibility to continue dancing at an elite level.

“Visions beautifully let me pursue dancing AND education. The independent study [model] lets me learn material at my own pace, and not the class average pace,” says Luke. “Having a personalized speed…helped me fly through assignments and learn way better.”

The Next Stage

Luke is set to graduate this June and will be heading to The Norwalk Conservatory of the Arts in Connecticut. There, he will spend two years specializing in musical theater dance with the hopes of turning his passion into a career.

“The goal at NoCo is not to have their students graduate, but rather to get them successful work in the industry as fast as possible. As a result of this philosophy, they only accept 16 people per track who they know already have what it takes to succeed,” Luke explains.

With support from his mom, teacher, and dance mentors, Luke is pursuing a life centered around something he loves. Visions’ unique structure and the chance for Luke to receive a self-paced, rigorous education has set him up to follow all of his dance dreams. Like “Drive” says – “Do what makes you feel alive.”

“The Visions program offers a quality education at the student’s pace, which allows for more time for extracurriculars like dance, in Luke’s case,” shares Christie. “Visions has been a godsend to all three of my kids.”

Check out Luke’s performance at Headliners here! Want to see more? Visit the Lowe family’s YouTube channel!