School History
Forest Charter School opened its doors in fall of 2002 upon the invitation of then sponsoring district, Twin Ridges Elementary School District. In July 2007 Forest left Twin Ridges and, along with 5 other charters, joined together under the sponsorship of Nevada County Superintendent of Schools, NCSOS, an innovative leader in the charter school movement. These charters forged a unique concept of a charter cooperative, creating the Nevada County Charter Cooperative (NCCC).
Forest Charter School entered the charter school arena with a new, innovative alternative model of education called Personalized Learning. Personalized Learning has its roots in the homeschool movement, where, for decades, parents have privately tailored learning for their children according to their individual needs and preferences. Prior to the 1990s in California, parents had few choices for their children’s education: the public school system, a private school, or private homeschooling. In 1992, California’s elected officials enacted California’s Charter School Act, which established public charter schools as an option for parents, students, teachers, and community members to design self-governing schools within the public school system to meet the needs of their community. Charter schools were envisioned to provide new, better, and more flexible and innovative opportunities for California students within the public school system.
As the charter school movement grew in California, so also evolved a partnership between members of the private homeschool community and public educators who saw great educational potential and value in learning opportunities beyond the classroom. The flexibility and innovation provided through Charter School law, teachers, parents, students, and administrators have successfully demonstrated that an effective learning "classroom" goes well beyond the walls of a standard public school building. The "hybrid" or "multi-strand" approach of the Personalized Learning model enables students to pursue learning choices that optimize their learning potential according to their individual needs.
In 2002, Forest opened its doors to 231 students residing in Nevada City, Grass Valley and Auburn.
In 2003, we welcomed a group of eager teachers and students in Truckee at which time Forest was granted Interim accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
A partnership with the Grass Valley Center for the Arts emerged when Forest began to hold block classes there 2 days a week.
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Foresthill students joined Forest at the same year.
In 2005, the K-5 Tree Top Cooperative in Lake Tahoe joined the Forest family.
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The same year, the Global Studies Academy emerged at the FCS Administrative site in Nevada City serving high school students in a 2 day a week program.
The FCS College and Career Center also emerged as a dynamic support for high school students.
In 2007 Forest partnered with the St. Canice Center to hold Wednesday block classes for K-8 students.
Currently, Forest serves over 646 K-12 students with individualized learning plans in the contiguous counties of Nevada, Placer, Yuba and Sierra. Our administrative site is in historical downtown Nevada City.
After an in depth self study conducted over a 2 year period, Forest was recently awarded a full 6 year term accreditation by WASC running through June of 2012.