Entries by Ronaldo Gomez

Graduate Spotlight: Finding Empowerment Through Education

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Graduate Spotlight: Finding Empowerment Through Education

Six years ago, a fifteen-year-old girl who loved marching band and her cat Ruby enrolled at Visions. She was facing bullying at her old school, so much so that it was interfering with her education. With big dreams and a desire to change the world, that girl knew she needed something different.

Mel M. enrolled in Visions’ University Prep Academy in 2018, Ruby by her side. She wanted to take control of her education and set herself up for success after graduation, two things that the freedom and flexibility of Visions allows for students like Mel.

“Visions allowed me to have agency in my education. I would attend morning band practice at Bella Vista High School and then walk to a coffee shop to do my classwork. I enjoyed having control over my education and being able to develop time management skills that seriously help me in college,” says Mel. “In my junior year, I enrolled in English and Japanese classes at Sacramento City College, and in my senior year, I took English and Psychology at Sierra College, which provided a valuable early introduction to college classrooms and expectations.”

During her time at Visions, Mel was also involved in our 916 Ink/Find Your Voice writing program (pictured right, Mel is in the back row, far right), first as a student and then as a mentor. This program afforded her some of her favorite memories at Visions, giving her a social circle, a structured outlet to express herself,and the opportunity to publish her writing.

“My favorite memories of Visions are the 916 Ink book parties that were held at the end of the year to celebrate the publishing of our collective book. It felt so special to be celebrating such a cool achievement with my friends I had spent the year getting to know and sharing my writing with.”

Learning Beyond Academics

Aside from the subjects that Mel learned during her classes, she picked up skills at Visions that have served her well into her adulthood.

“Visions taught me to work independently, rely on myself, manage my time, and focus on my mental health while pursuing an education,” Mel explains. “One specific lesson I feel was valuable was learning to ask questions! I always felt embarrassed to ask questions in a traditional classroom, especially since I was experiencing severe bullying from my classmates. I often just allowed myself to be confused. At Visions, I learned there is nothing shameful about not knowing the answer to something, or having to speak up and ask for clarification. In my college classrooms and workspace, I’m now constantly asking questions.”

Lifelong Impacts

Since graduating from Visions in 2020, Mel has transferred to UC Berkeley where she is pursuing her BA in Social Welfare. Currently in her senior year, she is a research apprentice for the head of the Social Welfare department, helping her research children’s and parents’ rights nationally. Previously, Mel served as an Applied Behavioral Analysis technician, working with children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and as a Montessori teaching assistant. She hopes to one day research and develop an alternative therapy or classroom model for autistic children that is rooted in compassion and social justice.

“Besides time management, independence, and shamelessly asking questions, I believe Visions taught me resilience. It taught me that if Plan A isn’t working for you, there is always another option,” Mel shares. “When I realized I had picked the wrong college after high school and wanted to transfer,I thought back to when I transferred…to Visions and how that was the best possible decision for me. Because I made that leap in sophomore year, I felt empowered to retake control of my education and withdraw from Seattle University. Had I not done that, I would not be where I am today, at one of the top public research institutions in the country studying something I am extremely passionate about. My experience at Visions gave me the opportunity to develop trust in myself to build a life I am excited to live.”




Words of Advice

"Take advantage of the freedom you have with Visions. Take a break from studying and go for a walk to calm your mind in between classes. Involve yourself in the opportunities provided by the school, like concurrent enrollment with community colleges and 916 Ink. Practice your time management, as this will be a great skill to carry with you to college and the workforce. Appreciate the unique educational opportunity you have and pour your extra time and energy into things you love. High school does not have to be as dreary and difficult as traditional school makes it. Fall in love with learning again now that your education is in your hands."
Mel M.
Alumna, Visions In Education, Class of 2020.

Visions Instructional Leadership Presenting At Huron Studer Education Conference

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Visions Instructional Leadership Presenting At Huron Studer Education Conference

Visions In Education is dedicated to preparing each student to succeed in a rapidly changing world. As part of this mission, we consistently look for ways to support our leadership, staff, and families through feedback and culture building.

To help with this, Visions and Huron Studer Education have been partnered for the past two years. Through this partnership, we have implemented surveys called Organizational Assessments to gather feedback from all levels of staff. The data collected is analyzed, shared out, and used to make school-wide improvements to ensure we’re all aligned in our common goal of serving students. 

To learn more about how this feedback shapes what we do at Visions, read our 23/24 1% Better article here.

Giving Back

Due to our success with this process, Superintendent Steve Olmos and Senior Director of Instruction Jennifer Morrison have been invited to present at the 13th Annual What’s Right In Education (WRIE) Conference hosted by Huron Studer Education! Their session, “Feedback is a Gift That Keeps Giving,” will share how Visions has used feedback data to drive continuous improvement and offer valuable insights for event attendees to learn from and apply to their own schools.

Visions looks forward to sharing our story and learning from other educators at the WRIE conference.

About Huron Studer Education and the WRIE Conference

Studer Education helps create great places to learn, work, and succeed. It partners with people-first organizations to achieve great results for those it serves. Huron Studer is privileged to partner with inspiring leaders to offer workshops, professional development, survey strategies, and much more. 

With deep learning and sharing opportunities, the WRIE conference is a unique event focusing on K-12 leaders. Event attendees are high-performers who sincerely care about their teams’ growth and the well-being of their district’s students and families. Attendees will walk away with actionable strategies to implement in their districts immediately.

Visions’ 2025 Niche Rankings Announced!

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Visions’ 2025 Niche Rankings Announced!

Niche.com is the leading search tool on the internet for finding schools. They just released their 2025 rankings and Visions is proud to share that we came out on top!

Niche compiles its rankings by looking at schoolwide data and reviews from students, parents and teachers.

“Though quality data is a priority, we know that a school is more than a collection of stats.” Read more about Niche’s ranking methodology here.

Rising Stars In Education

Visions claimed spots within the Top 5 in the greater Sacramento area and the county itself. Many of the schools that came in a bit ahead or a little behind had much smaller enrollment numbers and many were also classroom-based.

As an independent charter school serving over 7,500 students virtually in nine counties, we are #VisionsProud of our rankings!

Share How You Are #VisionsProud

Give us a review on Niche! By sharing your experience, you’ll help other students and parents learn about how Visions might be a good fit for them. Plus your reviews will also help us rank in 2025. Click here to share your thoughts.

We’re so proud of our students, families, teachers and staff for earning this national distinction.

Sacramento County

#3 Best Charter Middle Schools

#3 Best Charter Elementary Schools

#5 Best Charter High Schools

Sacramento Area

#5 Best Charter Middle Schools

Streamlining Success: A Spotlight On The Business Systems & Support Department

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Streamlining Success: A Spotlight on the Business Systems & Support Department

As one of the largest charter schools in Northern California, Visions has been ahead of the curve when it comes to utilizing technology to enhance our families’ experience. With tools such as LPAD, PLSIS, and SchoolsPLP, we’ve developed our internal systems to strengthen and streamline everything from ordering curriculum to finding events to getting connected to vendors.

Behind these systems is a strong team of analysts who ensure that these tools are well-maintained and functioning at their highest capacity. Led by Associate Director of Business Systems & Support and 20-year Visions veteran Tania Houchin, this team’s work with Visions’ systems, CALPADS, vendors, and more is essential to both staff and student success.

“I supervise the Vendor Services Team and three (soon to be four) Business Analysts. All together we ensure that all of our major systems, LPAD, School Pathways and SchoolsPLP, are working correctly not only for students, parents, vendors, teachers, and internal staff, but also for all of the state reporting requirements such as CALPADS (California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System), for our yearly audits, and for ADA (Average Daily Attendance) reporting, which funds our school,” says Tania.

Because our staff and families rely so heavily on these systems, it’s important that they are both advanced and adaptable. For example, LPAD, formerly known as Launchpad, is a trademarked system used only by Visions that has been refined and developed for over a decade. What used to be several different applications has been integrated into one platform for our families, and is constantly being evaluated and improved behind-the-scenes by the analysts on this team.

“We do a lot in the background to ensure systems run smoothly by continuously monitoring data, troubleshooting issues, and testing updates,” explains Senior Business Analyst Carl Sorensen. “Our department also works with other teams to ensure they have the resources and tools they need. This work might include streamlining processes, testing new features or integrations, or addressing operational bottlenecks.”

“My team is always working on improving workflows and making things simple and user-friendly,” says Tania. “I really appreciate that every member of my team takes the initiative to make recommendations about things that could be improved anytime they have an idea. Our hope is always to simplify systems to leave more time to support staff and students.”

Smooth Operations

Overseeing these high-reach, high-impact tools requires diligence, collaboration, and a unique skill set, something each member of the team brings to the table.

Tom Murphy, the newest Business Analyst on the team (quote “About 8,577,118 seconds* seconds at the time of publishing this”), works with data loaders and PLSIS, helping build tools to support instructional oversight.

“Our goal is to make the jobs of employees in other departments easier,” explains Tom. “We build fun tools to give other teams streamlined access to data.”

Business Analyst Carlos Palomo primarily supports SchoolsPLP, Naviance, and Canvas. SchoolsPLP is especially important to our families, functioning as the learning management system for all three academies and our new Online Middle School program.

“We are able to support many different aspects of the backend of Visions,” says Carlos.

Carl is the CALPADS king, overseeing Visions’ state reporting, as well as permissions, system issues and settings, and various annual processes.

“One of my responsibilities is the State Reporting for our school, including CALPADS, CBEDS (California Basic Educational Data System), and Civil Rights Data Collection,” says Carl. “There’s a substantial amount of data from many sources that is involved in these reports.”

Vendor Support Analyst Kristin Shumaker and Student Services Representative 1 Julie Yoder work hand-in-hand to support our 600+ Enrichment Vendors and 53 Vendor Sponsors, including managing contracts, activating vendor portals, assisting with LPAD, and, most importantly, managing vendor relationships. This is especially significant for our school, as our vendors provide services that broaden and enrich our students’ education.

“Our vendors are almost as amazing as our students!” says Kristin. “It’s exciting and fulfilling to know that the things that I do to support our vendors allows our students to participate in activities that they may not have been able to participate in without our Enrichment Vendor program. We now even have a vendor who offers a special effects (SPX) prosthetics makeup course. How cool is that?!?”

From All Angles

Part of what makes this team so dynamic is their multifaceted levels of experience. Julie is a former member of the Ordering Services Department, and is now able to split her time between supporting Kristin and continuing to support our ordering team. Her ability to see how departments and responsibilities are intertwined gives Julie a unique perspective on the intricacies of the organization.

“The transition [from Ordering Services to Vendor Support] was smooth due to my experience processing eVouchers in Ordering Services. I had previously handled eVouchers concerns and modifications via our Help Forms and the Voucher Questions email box. I believe this new role has bridged Ordering Services, Vendor Support, and students to help resolve eVoucher questions and issues efficiently,” explains Julie. “It is also freeing up some time for our Vendor Support Analyst to focus on ‘1% Better’ improvements to our Enrichment Vendor Services and relationships.”

Similarly, Tania was previously an Independent Study Academy Principal on the Instructional side of Visions. In that role, Tania was deeply involved with all of our systems, even being taken off caseload to support the implementation of School Pathways full-time. This background made the transition to Business Services much easier, and helped facilitate further collaboration between the two sides of the organization.

“I think that my background on the Instructional side of Visions is invaluable to my current position,” states Tania. “I’m able to bring a different perspective to conversations happening in Business Services which has greatly helped not only in day to day operations, but also when discussing larger projects being developed.”

Regardless of experience or expertise, each person recognizes both the value that they bring to their team and the value of the people that they work with.

“I like the camaraderie within the group. Not just supporting each other with work, but mental breaks as well,” says Carlos.

“We provide each other with a second set of eyes when needed, and work as a soundboard for each other when brainstorming the best ways to solve a particular problem,” adds Tom.

“The Business Systems & Support team is awesome to work with!” says Kristin. “We are always willing to help each other out to solve a problem or talk through a solution. We all truly care about what we do.”

“The Business Systems & Support Department is a very hard working and important team that completes a lot of behind the scenes tasks that are often unseen but are vitally important. Even though this team always has a lot going on, they are always super helpful and willing to help out wherever they are needed. I appreciate their diligence, hard work, focus on accuracy, consistent emphasis on improving, and especially their positive attitudes. They really do have a positive impact on all of the students, families, teachers, and staff at Visions.” – Michael Brubaker, Senior Director of Operations

Celebrating Filipino American History Month

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Celebrating Filipino American History Month

Each October, we recognize Filipino American History Month. FAHM commemorates the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the United States, dating all the way back to October of 1587. After being proposed by the Filipino American National Historical Society board of trustees in 1992, Filipino American History Month is now recognized annually and globally, and honors the significant role that Filipinos have played in our country’s history.

Resources & Information

Across the globe, communities come together during this time to celebrate the rich history and cultural legacy of Filipino Americans. Learn more below!

October Is Bullying Prevention Month

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October Is Bullying Prevention Month 

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. This time calls to end bullying, promote kindness and acceptance, and unite for inclusion. Join us in ending bullying and changing our culture.

Resources & Getting Involved

“Allowing students to be involved in bullying prevention efforts has a great impact. Students feel empowered by being directly involved in analyzing bullying issues, creating ideas to help solve the problem, and enact creative solutions. Student-led bullying prevention initiatives give students self-efficacy and a sense of agency with leadership.” – PACER.

See below for some important resources and ways that you can show your support:

Learn more about Bullying Prevention Month and how to participate here.

Hear from alum Angel, who shared her story about finding Visions after struggling with bullying in this article and video. 

Congratulations To Our #VisionsFirstDay Gift Card Recipients!

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Congratulations to Our #VisionsFirstDay Gift Card Recipients!

Thank you to all of our students and families for sharing your back to school photos! It was great to see so many happy faces ready to learn. See all the photos in the #VisionsFirstDay 2024 album on Facebook!

This year we have six winners – check out their photos below!

Congratulations Ryann T., Keira & Rylie R., Isaac M., Nolan & Violet W., Naomi B., and Kingston V.! Winning families will be contacted by email. We hope everyone has a great year and thanks again for sharing your memories!

Connecting With Students Through School & Sports: A Spotlight On Kyle Novak

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Connecting With Students Through School & Sports: A Spotlight On Kyle Novak

Prior to becoming a teacher, Kyle Novak was a soccer player, a hopeful Hogwarts student (he was truly disappointed when Hedwig didn’t drop him a letter and Hagrid didn’t bash in his door to tell him he was a wizard on his 11th birthday), and a graduate student at the University of Oregon. Originally wanting to become a professor of Chinese history, Kyle spent six years studying Chinese language and culture, receiving a BA in History from Whitworth University and an MA in History from the University of Oregon. Despite a great experience being an Oregon Duck, including serving as assistant coach for the Women’s Soccer Team, Kyle came to the realization that his true passion wasn’t in Chinese history, but in working with students.

“As fun as it was researching calligraphy and pirates in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, I realized that I was more interested in working with students and helping people grow towards meaningful goals,” says Kyle. “[So], I moved to Sacramento with my wife, took a job teaching English, and got to work on my credential.”

Kyle has now been an Independent Study Academy teacher at Visions for four years. As someone who lets student learning and engagement lead, Kyle is constantly taking on new challenges, including coaching our first ever soccer club last year and becoming a New Teacher Mentor.

“I love working as a partner and coach for my students and their families,” says Kyle “I love that I get to connect students to resources and give them every opportunity to get where they want to go.”

Goal-Oriented

As mentioned, soccer has been part of Kyle’s life since he was young. As both a player and a coach, Kyle has been involved with rec soccer, comp travel teams, DI and DIII colleges. From playing in an adult league to coaching his sons’ youth team and Visions’ soccer club, he loves the way the sport can bring people together.

“I have really enjoyed connecting with our students who didn’t grow up speaking English but we share a love of soccer,” says Kyle. “It’s a good day when I’m playing games with students at the in-person events and with athletes who are part of the Visions soccer team.”

Even greater than the lessons on the field is the learning off the field, which Kyle facilitates through continued collaboration with his students, families, and teachers in his cohort. At the forefront of everything he does is student success and experience, which Kyle uses to guide his day-to-day work.

“I really enjoy collaborating with teachers across communities on various student projects and in supporting teachers who are new to Visions,” Kyle explains. “When something we do isn’t working, we pivot and find what works better to increase student outcomes and experiences.”

Pictured right: Kyle and student Amal M. ready to play some soccer at a regional event!

Closing the Gap

Bridging the world of academics and athletics can help students learn fundamental skills, including communication, discipline, and resilience. Kyle is fortunate to be able to meld his passion for soccer and student success here at Visions, something made possible by not only his ambition, but by leadership in the organization.

“Big shoutouts to both Ron Thomas, our Equity Warrior and Student Engagement leader who makes it possible for athletic coaches and club advisors to do what we do, and to Principal Alward, who does an amazing job of supporting the teachers in her community so that we can do our best work for students and their families,” says Kyle. “I’m very grateful for the chance to do this work.”





“I’ve really enjoyed running the Visions soccer club. For most students, unless they play competitive club soccer, there’s very few opportunities to enjoy playing on a team when you get to high school. Our program is extremely inclusive. The team is coed, and skill abilities are welcome – the biggest common factor is that they love soccer. They want to compete and be part of a team. I was extremely impressed with out team last year in their ability to come together and work hard for each other, and I’m very much looking forward to this year.”

Visions In Education COO To Present At Amazon Business Reshape Conference

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Visions In Education COO To Present At Amazon Business Reshape Conference 

At Visions, technology powers almost everything we do. Our trademarked LPAD Student Support System™ has continued to expand and improve over the years and this progress wouldn’t be possible without our partnership with Amazon Business. 

Since 2015, we’ve partnered with Amazon to strengthen ordering processes for our school. As a school that operates in nine California counties across hundreds of square miles, our ability to quickly and efficiently order curriculum and supplies for our families is non-negotiable. In the beginning, this partnership helped us serve around 4,000 students and resulted in $160,000 in Amazon purchases. Now, this integration helps over 7,400 students and 500 staff process $3.35 million in annual purchases that support our educational work.

This seamless connection allows our staff to focus on teaching and supporting students instead of spending hours processing paperwork and payments. Additionally, it gets materials to our families fast so they are prepared and ready to get the most out of their education. 

Sharing Our Story

Chief Operations Officer, Tom Tafoya, has been leading the charge when it comes to improving LPAD and expanding our capabilities with Amazon. Our model is a great example of what is possible for other schools so this year he is presenting at the Amazon Business Reshape Conference in Dallas, Texas!

Tafoya will join Amazon Business’ Director of Products and Technology, Satya Mishra, to explain how application programming interfaces (APIs) can streamline purchasing, reporting, user management and more.

As one of the largest charter schools in Northern California, investing in technology has been integral in sustaining a positive student experience for over 25 years. We look forward to sharing how our partnership with Amazon Business supports our families and how it could benefit other organizations as well.