Cielo Vista Charter
Our Mission
All members of the Cielo Vista Charter family including teachers, parents, staff, students, administrators, the PSUSD board and community members, work collaboratively to create an equitable, inclusive, and empathetic environment to help all students reach their fullest potential. We establish high expectations academically, while nurturing the development of each child physically, emotionally, and socially. We promote each student’s sense of belonging and commitment to the community, nation and the world around them through a restorative culture. We strive to create a love of life-long learning, a growth mindset, grit, and a high level of self-efficacy. We embrace individual differences while encouraging independent thinking in a creative and challenging environment. We promote 21st-century innovative skills through collaboration, communication, self-reflection, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Students feel loved and empowered through voice and choice.
We will fulfill our mission by:
1. All members of the Cielo Vista Charter family including teachers, parents, staff, students, administrators, board and community members, work collaboratively to create an equitable, inclusive, and empathetic environment to help all students reach their fullest potential.
- Focus on developing long-lasting positive relationships between students, parents, staff, and community
- Professional Learning Community collaboration and data-driven decision making through achievement team, staff think tank, and parent coffee chats
- The staff is consistently focusing on developing cultural sensitivities that address the needs of students from a variety of cultures, backgrounds and life experiences.
- Community partnerships that connect students to experts in the surrounding community as well as to give back to their community through service projects.
- We have a diverse system of communication between home, class, school, and community to meet the needs of all groups using a variety of technologies.
- Parent involvement through the Cielo Vista Charter PTG and ELAC committees.
2. We establish high expectations academically, while nurturing the development of each child physically, emotionally, and socially.
- Classroom management techniques that reflect mutual respect are essential to creating a learning environment where all students feel safe and able to focus on learning.
- We support the development of every students’ social and emotional intelligence with the guidance of a full-time School Counselor and a partnership with Mental Health Services.
- We will develop College & Career Readiness through goal setting procedures that identify current and future goals.
- PLC collaboration and instructional planning will focus on developing best practice instruction of California Common Core State Standards, with a focus on essential and target standards at each grade level.
- We offer Physical Education and Health Education courses that align with current state mandates and meet the developmental needs of all our students.
- Students in grades TK-5 participate in weekly nutrition lessons that provide a foundation for understanding and the options available for healthier nutrition.
3.We promote each student’s sense of belonging and commitment to the community, nation and the world around them through a restorative justice culture.
- We focus on building a healthy community, developing common values while restoring positive and trusting relationships within the CVC family.
- We develop strong character in our students through the integration of Character Counts! and through the Leader in Me program.
- Peer mediation training is provided annually to select upper-grade students.
- All students have access to Mental Health Services through a referral process.
- Staff, students, families, and community members can receive Restorative Practices training.
- Students participate in a structured recess program that promotes inclusive, positive recess interactions through play.
- We encourage community and parent volunteers to actively participate in classroom and school activities. All volunteers are required to follow the volunteer process and be cleared yearly as a supervisory or non-supervisory volunteer.
- To enhance the students’ sense of community, grade levels are encouraged to participate in field trips into the surrounding area to give students the opportunity to enhance their classroom learning while experiencing real-world learning.
4. We strive to create a life-long love of learning, a growth mindset, grit, and a high level of self-efficacy.
- The culture of our school should embody the principles of self-reflection and personal development that embody the current needs of our staff, students, and families.
- Developing a love of life-long learning includes students having the confidence to share their voice while being provided opportunities to exert control and choice in their learning.
- It takes a community to raise a child and a love of learning is fostered through multiple experiences and interactions with those who model a love of learning.
5. We embrace individual differences while encouraging independent thinking in a creative and challenging environment.
- It’s important to offer students the opportunity to explore and apply their creativity through a variety of channels.
- We look at the child as a whole and each student is an individual who matters to the school community.
6. We promote 21st-century innovative skills through collaboration, communication, self-reflection, problem-solving, and critical thinking.
- We want to prepare our students for present and future success by developing the skills necessary to effectively reflect and communicate.
- Collaboration around problem-solving and critical thinking are essential components of the educational program leading students to college and career readiness.
- Through technology we enable our students to develop the critical thinking skills necessary through the 5 Cs – Choice, Collaboration, Communication, Critical thinking, and Creativity to compete in an international 21st-century technological environment.
7. Students feel loved and empowered through voice and choice.
- We believe in empowering our students by providing leadership opportunities.
- We believe students develop long-lasting relationships and self-worth when partnered with other students/buddies school-wide, creating a family culture.
- Students need opportunities to choose learning activities that will allow them to grow and develop as an individual as well as a member of a team.
- Connection and the continued development of interpersonal relationships are essential to providing a platform for students’ voice.
- A shared decision-making approach (student, staff, parent, and community) is essential to developing a culture that values student voice and choice.
Our Learning Community
Cielo Vista Charter School serves about 875 students Transitional-Kindergarten-8th grade. We have established a culture of collaboration whereby over 40 state credentialed teachers, staff, parents, extended family, guardians and community members all support the learning community.
All stakeholders in the Cielo Vista Charter community (teachers, parents, staff, students, administrators, and community leaders) will be actively engaged in working collaboratively to help all students increase academic proficiency based on California content and performance standards. State-of-the-art 60/40 laptop technology (60% technology and 40% traditional paper pencil), co-curriculum and hands-on academic activities will be enhanced to achieve this vision.
- We provide a safe, welcoming, and clean school environment.
- We develop the highest competence in academic, intellectual, and social skills.
- We promote the integration of technology throughout the entire curriculum.
- We build students of strong character through trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
- We foster teamwork while embracing individual differences within our learning community.
- We expand students’ knowledge and understanding of the community, nation, and world.
- We develop and maintain partnerships that support education of our youth through service to their community.
Fiscal Operations
Cielo Vista Charter School operates within its own allocated funds, which mostly come from the local block grant funding model in accordance with AB544, which supplies state education funds to charter schools. CVC maintains an operational reserve of at least 4 percent of its total operating budget. In order to serve the educational needs of our students, CVC seeks out private donors, public and private grants, partnerships and holds school and community fundraisers.