Entries by Ronaldo Gomez

Visions’ Main Office & STS Closed November 11th For Veterans Day

Visions’ Main Office & STS Closed November 11th for Veterans Day

Visions’ main office and Student Technology Services (STS) will be closed on Monday, November 11th, 2024 in observance of Veterans Day. We will resume operations during regular business hours on Tuesday, November 12th.

Veterans Day is observed annually on November 11th and honors all who have served in the United States military. We commemorate and remember the brave citizens, both living and deceased, who have fought for our country and freedom.

Resources

For more information about Veterans Day, see below:

November Is American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month

November Is American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month

This month, we honor the history, culture, and contributions of Indigenous peoples, including Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other affiliated island communities. By getting curious about their cultures, listening to their stories, and uplifting their voices, we pay homage to those whose histories and traditions came long before us.

See all the ways that you can get involved in the celebration!

Resources

For more information and ways to bring voice to these groups, please these resources:

Student Spotlight: Pursuing Academics, Athletics, And The Arts

Student Spotlight: Pursuing Academics, Athletics, And The Arts

Article updated with a correction on 11/1/24

The Nelsons know how to make the most out of being a Visions family. The oldest Siobhan graduated in 2023 and is currently continuing her education at UCLA, 14 year old Maeve is the University Prep Academy’s sole representative on this year’s Advisory Board, fourth grader Peitiula is thriving in the Home School Academy, and their brother Desmond is composing songs for musicals and founding new clubs.

As the second oldest, Desmond has been a student at Visions for over twelve years. When Siobhan initially asked their mom to switch from traditional public school to homeschool, Desmond followed suit, finding that the resources and opportunities at Visions were much more aligned to his passions.

“I have been fortunate to have the freedom to use charter funds to pursue interests like piano and fencing lessons, which I could not have done in a standard public school,” says Desmond.

A prolific piano player, Desmond has been able to spend time honing a craft that he’s been interested in since he was six years old. Mostly self-taught on a used piano that his grandma bought for their homeschool classroom, Desmond has learned to read and write music, taking on the initiative of composing and performing live the soundtrack, including sound effects, for our Drama Club’s 10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse musical last year (pictured left).

“I love playing music, and also enjoy composing my own songs. I thought it [composing] would be an excellent creative opportunity, where I would have a lot of freedom to follow my creative drive,” says Desmond. “It was such an incredible experience to be able to get a sense of what working behind the scenes on a big show is really like. I got to work with our incredible director Ms. Simpson to make this show the best it could be through sound effects and music.”

Start Spreading The News

Desmond is also currently pursuing another creative avenue – writing. This year, Desmond’s sister Maeve (pictured center in the right photo) and fellow student Valerie Gorman co-founded Visions first student run Newspaper Club. Desmond is the Vice-President and has been an active participant since the club began. Planning to cover sports and the club spotlight section, Desmond is looking forward to publishing their first issue and in turn, bringing our student body closer together.

“[Desmond] was a key member of our original team and contributed to our mock issue as a writer. His work in both the mock issue and our first official issue has been instrumental in creating a great publication, so he is definitely an integral member of the newspaper,” said Maeve.
This section of the article has been corrected to clarify the background on the founders of the Newspaper Club.

“It is an exciting opportunity to connect with other students and share information which may help other students,” says Desmond. “I hope to help spread the word about…field trips and events students can attend. These events can help bring us all together, and create a common experience in addition to providing opportunities for learning and fun!” says Desmond.

Enriching His Education

Along with music and writing, Desmond loves to fence, using his budget to take lessons with Visions Vendor Premier Fencing Academy. He’s also interested in STEM, working with one of our Social Workers to expand the program at Visions.

“I participated in Visions’ STEM club last year and was awarded their scholarship, which I applied towards the tuition of UC Santa Cruz’s high school program. Last summer I took ‘Intro to Music Theory’ online, and it was a fantastic experience,” says Desmond. “This year I am working closely with Mr. Fuentes to expand the STEM mentoring program through UC Davis. I met him at the Visions Club Rush, and began working together to elevate the STEM program, expand it to more students, and create a student-led leadership team to help advise on the program.”

Desmond has also found support in his credentialed teacher, Judy Flora, who has been an instrumental guide in his high school and post-high school careers.

“Ms. Flora has been a great support, and allows me the freedom to pursue my interest and passions while helping ensure my education meets standards,” says Desmond.

Through our dual enrollment program, Desmond has been taking classes at both Woodland Community College and Columbia Community College since the summer before his freshman year, in addition to his honors classes. He plans on applying to several University of California schools, majoring in Cognitive Science and becoming a software engineer, while keeping up his fencing and continuing to make music.

“I am playing piano at an upcoming charity event, Carmichael Inner Wheel, and will always play piano for fun,” says Desmond. “I also recently produced a compilation of my music which is unpublished but burned onto a CD I have given to friends and family.”

For now, Desmond is continuing to enjoy his high school experience. He looks forward to continuing to work with his teachers and peers and connect them to all the opportunities at Visions.

“It is great to connect with other students and hear their perspectives, and I am looking forward to more in person events and activities.”

Keep an eye on The Wire for our very first issues of The Visions Quarterly coming next month!

Visions In Education Leaders To Present At Charter School Development Center Conference

Visions In Education Leaders To Present At Charter Schools Development Center Conference

Visions In Education is proud to attend and present at this year’s Charter Schools Development Center (CSDC) Conference. CSDC is an educational nonprofit that has supported California charter schools for over 30 years. 

Each year, the CSDC supports charter schools and their leaders serving California’s charter schools and charter management organizations. Attendees will leave with critical updates, exclusive insights, and the opportunity to network with other leaders in the charter space. This year’s conference will be held in Sacramento. 

Hosting the CSDC conference in Sacramento allows the opportunity to send more representation on behalf of Visions. Last year, Sarah McFarland, Director of Instruction and Mattew Patterson, Director of Student Services, presented, “Reimagining Professional Learning in an Independent Study Model”. This year, Visions will be represented by five presenters.

CSDC 2024 Speakers

  • Matt Patterson, Director of Student Services 
  • Sarah McFarland, Director of Instruction, Independent Study and University Prep
  • Jessica Lauder, Director of Special Education 
  • Ron Thomas, Associate Director of Equity & Student Engagement
  • Jamee Block, Associate Director, State and Federal Programs

Their session on November 18th, “Empowering Student Success: Comprehensive Support Systems in Action at Visions In Education, will cover supporting over 7,500 students through a comprehensive student support system. Our presenters will delve deeper into various programs and strategies implemented at Visions including counseling, social work services, summer school initiatives, and credit recovery programs. 

Attendees will receive key takeaways from the presentation including, changing adult mindsets, school climate and student connectedness, and student mental health needs, including crisis supports.

Director McFarland will also be hosting a session on November 18th titled, “AI Revolution: Transforming Charter School Leadership and Learning”, where charter school educators will learn how to integrate AI tools and technology to enhance their leadership skills and operational effectiveness. 

We thank our presenters who we know will make us #VisionsProud at this year’s CSDC conference.

Throwback Thursday – Student Success Stories Over the Years

Throwback Thursday – Student Success Stories Over the Years

Visions In Education has been telling student stories for nearly 25 years. From articles in Visions View newspapers to spotlights on Olympic Gold medalists, we’ve been busy capturing students’ lives, talents, and achievements to share with our communities and beyond. Check out the photos below to see some of our very first stories!

Leaving Our Mark

Soon the stories of our TKers to our twelfth graders will be more pieces of Visions’ history. To this day, we are proud to serve a diverse student body that wants to make an impact in the world, whether through a career in medicine, as a mental health advocate, or as a member of our armed forces. Thank you, Visionaries, for letting us tell your stories for the past 25 years.

Want to read more student spotlights? Take a look at some of the stories we’ve told over the years below!

Visions Alumni & Prodigy Featured On “Child Genius” Show

Grad Spotlight: Former Teen Parent Excels Despite Challenges

Visions Student Writer Interviewed On Good Day Sacramento — hear from Shani in this video!

Kicking Goals For A Cause: Visions Makes Finals In Street Soccer USA Cup!

Kicking Goals For A Cause: Visions Makes Finals In Street Soccer USA Cup!

Visions In Education continues its advocacy in its communities as students and staff participated in Street Soccer USA’s 4th Anniversary Cup in Sacramento at Union Pacific Park, an event Visions helped sponsor this year.

Street Soccer USA provides an alternative to the “pay-to-play” model of youth soccer while funds raised at each event support Street Soccer USA’s social mission of fighting poverty and strengthening communities using soccer in the city in which the event takes place.

Street Soccer USA has been recognized for its humanitarian efforts by organizations such as ESPN for their partnership with UNIQLO and they host the annual Homeless World Cup. This organization has chapters in many cities, and Lisa Wrightsman leads the charge in Sacramento. Lisa and Superintendent Olmos met while participating in the American Leadership Forum and realized Visions and her chapter had similar goals: supporting young people.

Visions Futbolistas

When Visions announced the chance for student teams to participate, 16 students, some from our Soccer Club, answered the call to form two teams (U-13 and U-16) who were excited to showcase their soccer skills. The U-13 Co-Ed team included: Zach Z., Nahum P., Damir K., James E., Priscella C., Alexia M., Emalee H., and Noris E. The U-16 Co-Ed team included: Nahum P., Madi F., Sam K., Harmony W., Marcos G., Jesiah J., Tatyana B., Eloise V., and Musaddiqah I. Our students did an amazing job in their respective divisions and Visions’ U-13 Team won their tournament! 

Visions also fielded a co-ed staff team led by Soccer Club Coach Kyle Novak to compete against teams from other local businesses. Our school’s staff team made an appearance in the finals and took second place! Congratulations to our soccer stars: Cristina Buss, Spencer Summerhays, Alexander Butterfield, Axel Funes, Gabriella Slaughter, Chad Smith, Manuel Garcia, Uriel Gonzalez and Valerie Washburn!

Spencer Summerhays, Business Analyst and player, spoke about his experience participating, “The Co-Ed Corporate Cup with Street Soccer USA was an amazing experience to be a part of. It was a high-octane tournament, full of great competition against other local companies like SMUD.”

“Visions has a lot of talented soccer players among our staff,” said Spencer. “We all left grateful to be exposed to the Sacramento street soccer scene and itching to play together again.” 

Thank you to our student and staff teams for representing Visions on the pitch for a great cause! Special thanks to Coach Kyle Novak for guiding both our staff and student teams and for helping organize this awesome day.

Read here about how Kyle is connecting with students through school and sports!

Events like these are great for fostering team bonding and collaboration between staff and students. Superintendent Steve Olmos, Senior Director of Instruction Jennifer Morrison, Director of Student Services Matthew Patterson and Associate Director of Equity and Student Engagement Ron Thomas were cheering for our teams in the crowd along with friends and family. This event provided the opportunity to showcase how our Visionaries collaborate effectively to achieve their (soccer) goals!

See more photos in our photo gallery below! For the full gallery visit our Facebook page.

Graduate Spotlight: Finding Empowerment Through Education

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

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!

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

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