Diverse Education Models at Jamacha

Principal Urtnowski recently led me on a tour of not only Jamacha Elementary School, but also the two unique homeschool programs the campus houses: Design Learning Academy and Virtual Learning Program. We connected with two dedicated teachers from Design Learning Academy, where K-8 parents oversee daily instruction after receiving assignments and checking in with their teacher digitally.  As a homeschooling parent myself, I believe the families in this program must value and appreciate the daily support, off-campus field trips, and weekly enrichment days with hands-on activities alongside peers.  Also at this location, the Virtual Learning Program is designed for students in grades 4-8 where lessons are taught virtually by credentialed Cajon Valley teachers on a daily basis.  With the demand for alternative education models, Cajon Valley is committed to helping students succeed in a variety of settings.

While these lesser-known programs are intriguing, there was much success to see at Jamacha Elementary School as well.  I appreciated the school's focus on the core Language Arts curriculum, NatGeo, fitting supplemental needs into the established framework.    With their "Fly Time," students are given additional Tier 2 Instruction to support them, whether it's to advance them towards grade level or challenge them beyond grade level.  It is always a joy to see students learning with their whole bodies, engaged with the content in every way.  In one second grade classroom, I also saw students utilizing posted sentence starters offering scaffolded writing experiences. Well-planned and robust writing instruction makes success accessible to every student.  With only 2-3 teachers per grade level, Jamacha staff take the time to evaluate core curriculum and Running Record student data and plan activities based on key standards.  It's obvious that this focus on data-driven lesson plans created with collaborative wisdom and experience are serving the students at Jamacha well.