The Explore! Philosophy:

Explore! is a private school which allows for flexibility to meet the needs and interests of each student. There are as many ways to learn as there are students to do the learning. Excitement to learn is fueled by the unobstructed opportunity to explore and satisfy interests to their exhaustive depth. Explore! allows the space and freedom for children and teens to design their own learning their own experience with respectful and supportive adults to guide and inspire.  Early life education in this model can build a thriving foundation for a student’s relationship with the world around them integrating a foundation of lifelong learning.

Learning is taking place all of the time. We learn from our family, our friends, our environment, and media. If a child is forced to learn something when they are not ready or interested, they are likely to forget the information later in life. Conversely, when learning is integrated into experience, it registers in a deeper part of a student’s memory and informs many other facets of understanding. Lessons that are learned when the student is receptive are more interesting and exciting and therefore will endure into adulthood. This is why Explore! emphasizes taking the learning out into the field through field trips. The community and nature are valuable teachers which help ground students in a sense of place and belonging to a greater system. Explore! is excited to bring the fun back into education and make learning a whole body and whole mind experience. With no campus the earth and community become the classroom.

Independent Study Program:

All enrolled Explore! students are part of the independent study program. Independent study takes place at home and in the world around, where parents or tutors are the primary teachers until the child is old enough to guide their own learning. Each family’s personal philosophy on education and learning is valued and honored in this independent study program. Students, parent-teachers, and tutors are guided through meetings with an Explore! learning coach. The meetings will facilitate problem solving, evaluate learning goals, and assist in the creation of curriculum, learning portfolios and/or transcripts. Learning portfolios and transcripts are not only a bridge between Explore! and other learning institutions, but create a tangible sense of accomplishment for each student and show a timeline of personal growth to reflect back upon.

Explore! Second through Seventh grades:

Enrolled second through seventh graders participate in the independent study program. They are also encouraged to join the enrichment field trips themed to explore the earth and community through: nature immersion, observing the environment, community volunteerism, local sites, history, geography, arts and crafts, gardening, building, creative writing, critical thinking, games and more. The students will be learning while moving their body and experiencing the world around them. Nevada County is rich with educational destinations and magnificent natural environments to Explore!

Explore! Eighth through Twelfth grades:  

Explore! students who push themselves to delve into their interests will graduate with bright self confidence and a bounty of life skills for a successful adulthood. In these advancing grades, students have the opportunity to take their independent study to a new level and are asked to spend one to two days a week volunteering for and individual or organization in the form of an internship, aiding a mentor in order to learn a skill, or providing assistance to an individual or an organization in need. Students pick their volunteer opportunities in their areas of interest, turning the experience into a fulfilling educational experience while preparing them for future jobs, life skills.

Study in these upper grades is geared towards each student’s future goals. A student planning to attend college will graduate with a different set of classes on their transcript than a student who plans to learn a trade. At the beginning of eighth grade, the students will meet with their Explore! learning coach and decide what classes they need to completed in order to graduate from Explore! with a high school diploma. Students can then start and finish the classes at their own speed and desired order along with any electives. Each class will be designed by the individual student and created in such a way to be most effectively learned and enjoyed. For the completion of each class, students will decide how they are going to document the accomplishment, be it through an evaluation test, creating a portfolio, writing an essay, or demonstrating physical evidence of a project they have completed. Depending on the class, this evidence can also take the form of photo documentation, a journal, a presentation on a student teach/ skill sharing day, or whatever creative way students are excited to show their accomplishments. In order for the credit to go onto their transcript, students complete each class by writing a class description such as one would see in a course catalog, and a course syllabus detailing the time line of the class, books used etc. The syllabus can be created at the beginning of the class as a guide for the student or in retrospect as a reflection after the class is done. These course descriptions and syllabi not only give students a chance to refine their critical thinking about their learning process, but are filed away for inspiration for future students and used as a reference for interested college enrollment faculty. Students will have the opportunity to attend up to two classes a semester at a Junior college if they choose to learn in that format. Also students who wish to get an even bigger jump start on their college education can take the high school equivalency exam and enroll in a full course load at a Junior college.