Eduhsd Virtual Academy at Shenandoah

I am writing this review as a parent of a past Shenandoah studet, now that I have watched several of these alum grow into young adults. This school touts individual and innovative learning to bring our youth into active and responsible, civic minded roles and to prepare them for the real world. The majority of these seemingly bright young people that we have observed, with few exception, have all dropped out of college/trade schools , some several, some are homeless, and quite a few have developed a taste for other than civic minded activities and real world experiences. Instead of instilling a spirit of empowerment, enabling would be a more appropriate way of describing the prevailing attitudes displayed by the majority of the alum I have observed. I would not send another of my children to this school and would be curious to see an Alum Hall of Fame and believe more parents should ask exactly what the five year past high school stats show, in terms of real life success, which is the real test of this and other "learning environments" such as this. A BIG D- to Shenandoah from this family!
—Submitted by a parent

This school has terrific advisor support. Is this a school for everyone? No! This is a school for students that want to grow up and be ready for the real world and college. Math and science are offered online, as classes, or if a student really wants to get a jump on college, they can take ANY course at the community college, and graduate from high school with college AND high school credits. This school takes time for students to unlearn their current learning style, and learn a style that will take them through their entire life. It requires more time and support from parents and advisors, because students aren t sitting in a desk getting told what to do. Instead, they're learning through real life experiences, which sometimes seems like they re not learning at all. However, nothing could be further from the truth. This education is what you make of it.
—Submitted by a parent

Students here have poor teacher support in core learning areas. Math and science (if taught at all) are offered via distance learning. Some students have success integrating various subjects to form a valuable knowledge base through their exhibitions (project presentations). But sadly, many others seem to procrastinate and end up wasting everyone's time with shallow, hurriedly-done projects. Unless you are very self-motivated, this will be a disaster for you.
—Submitted by a student

My son is a freshman at Shenandoah and for the first time since elementary school has enjoyed school. I never thought I would hear the words 'I love school come' from his mouth I can only hope it remains the same for the next four years.
—Submitted by a parent

I cannot express the gratitude I have for Shenandoah. I know I would have been a high school drop-out had it not been for this unique and positive program. My advisor encouraged me to chase after my passions and the independent project-based learning allowed me to grow and learn life lessons on my own. It s been amazing! I know what I want to do with my future and have made solid plans for college. I highly recommend this school for any student who is tired of sitting in a classroom and not taking action. Who want to learn what it s like to learn and work in real life. Who want to prepare for college and not take PE! (of course you ll have to make your own exercise plan, but at least you won t have to swim in front of everyone else). Thanks for reading my review. I hope it helped!
—Submitted by a student

The 6 out of 10 rating above is based on traditional test score comparisons to California schools. Shenandoah is not 'traditional', so that scoring doesn t work. Our traditional success is shown through independent state reviews. Western Assoc. of Schools & Colleges reviewed Shenandoah for college accreditation, and Shenandoah got a glowing report. WASC was impressed with Shenandoah s success, and with what our students have learned, and how they re going to be successful life long learners, prepared for college. Shenandoah is one of the first California Certified Charter School s; and has had 100% of its students in 2007 pass the CAHSEE exam! Guided, independent learning; professional internships, so they know what they want to do as adults; and expectations for college; that s Shenandoah. I ve watched the students turn into amazing adults and have seen them blossom into remarkable human beings. One student at a time? Shenandoah High School really means it!
—Submitted by a parent

Shenandoah is simply the most amazing school. My sons AP/G.A.T.E. knowledge has not been bound by a 'traditional box school' mentality. He's going to college (yes while in high school!), finding a professional interest through internships, and yet he's having an exceptionally positive high school experience. If you son or daughter has been bored with school, Shenandoah is the place for them, because it's their education, tailored to their interests. Oh, by the way, it's fully accredited, and colleges are already trying to recruit him!
—Submitted by a parent

My grandkids go here, and their growth while going to this school has been amazing. I have watched their presentations at school and only wish I had a school like this when I was a teen. The classmates are supportive and respectful, and the small atmosphere makes for a pleasant learning experience. I'm a great supporter of this school, because it's been a great supporter of my grandkids!

I have been at Shenandoah for four years and with my graduation approaching I m proud to say I have gotten my education here at SHS. I have been here through some rough times and have felt that our school community has held strong for the most part. Two of the best parts of SHS are the internships we are allowed to have and the second is how close the school is/was, all of us students know each other and we can to talk each about anything are schools helps us take down those walls with social classes. If you are a parent and reading this SHS will help your child explore who they really are and you will see a big change in their educational goals. Thank you
—Submitted by a student

I get to learn things I want to learn about.
—Submitted by a student

Shenandoah (SHS) has changed my life! SHS is full of opportunities and open doors and any committed student can make it. Our school s atmosphere is friendly and open. We try to nurture teens to be independent and take on leadership roles, we encourage students to go to college and get ahead at their own pace, and we support individuality and freedom of speech. SHS may be a wonderful opportunity for students, but you also must take into consideration that our school is not for everybody. You need to be dedicated and self-motivated. For any lost students we offer supports like mentoring, tutoring, and project focus. Our teachers give 150% (and more!) and are extremely dedicated to students and improvement of the school. Our principal, Valerie Lott, is also an amazing woman who s given her all and continues to do so. Thanks for reading my review, have a fantastic day!
—Submitted by a student

Simply, the best school experience my children could have had. I wish I had this school, when I went, I would have loved it like my kids do. How many times do your kids say they miss school when not there? These kids do. That says a lot!
—Submitted by a parent

I am currently, a student attending Shenandoah High. I love it here the freedom is amazing and I can do what I love to do at the same time that it is school work. How amazing is that? Needless to say it is one of the best schools that I have ever been to. I love the way it works. I am currently, sitting at a desk at my internship at a wonderful place called the Hope House which is an orginization that dedicates itself to helping single mothers who want to improve their lifestyle. I want to become an Art Therapist so I love the fact that I can focus on improving the life of others through my job and council. . Parents, you'll love how involved you get to be.
—Submitted by a student

First off, this school is not for everyone. I recommend it to kids who have interests or a passion and would like to strongly pursue their passion. This school lets students explore all their options and interests providing many opportunities to succeed. It allows kids plenty of freedom to work on their projects following their own guidelines but to get an educational meaning out of it. But students also have to show responsibility to get their work done and that the work is high-quality. It also is very flexible and lets students work around their productive schedule. For example when juniors and seniors take college classes during school hours. This is something I extremely appreciate to have the opportunity to take college classes on my own time. But the downfalls of this school is that is does not offer any sport related activities such as soccer, football, basketball. So if a kid s passion involves sports maybe this isnt the right school for you unless he/she is signed up in a sport elsewhere. But the school does offer newspaper, drama, dance committee, book groups etc. Another thing it does not offer is big dances because the school is so tiny and therefore the school can t provide the classic dances like homecoming, winter ball and prom. Although the school offers these dances but there are so little people there that students might miss out on the classic high school experience (If you care about that kind of thing.) When I compare the regular high school I attended to Shenandoah, Shenandoah is by far way better. The reason is that I get to work on projects that Im interested in which opens me up to learning and learning new things. At regular high school I was bombarded with work, schedules, lectures, and too much structure which didn t teach me much. I like that each individual at this school has some kind of passion to look forward to, to drive them and know what is ahead. They have some idea of what they are going to do in life. I have explored many of my interests that have root caused to final meaning, wonder, and have educated me in ways that normal public high schools could not have done. I now have a clearer plan on what I want to do after high school. Overall this school teaches students how to be independent by taking on their own projects, and emphasizes on the personal qualities like maturity, responsibility, time-management, and independence. Ok I hope this has helped the reviewer.
—Submitted by a student

Shenandoah is an amazing school. I m a sophomore and I have to say it s the best school I ve attended. Shenandoah is not for everyone though, Shenandoah is for students who are willing to learn, in all of the other schools around here students aren t doing their work because they want to, students are doing their work to get by. At Shenandoah we get to work on our interests, we still do math, and science, and history, along with English, but most of our work is project based. We incorporate the learning goals, which I feel are more important than normal classes, Quantative Reasoning for instance is more important than math, QR is the ability to solve problems. Social Reasoning is more than history and covers a much broader scale than history does, its not just what happened, but what effect did it have on the world you live in, and what you do to make the world a better (Or sometimes worse) place. Shenandoah is also much more advanced than the other schools as far as I m concerned, the freedom in our schedule allows us to take collage classes and get internships, this prepares us much more for life after High school than constant testing ever could.
—Submitted by a student

Shenandoah, I have had the best schooling experience I have ever had , I get to learn about things I care about, do projects I care about. In this school I don t sit at a desk all day I do other things like LTI s and book groups. We don t have classes we have to learn on our own time and learn how to manage that time. It is like the real world in so many ways. You get to peruse your interests, and to work with relevance than the work you are sat down at a desk and told to do. But we do have our normal classes such as math and English and science online. We have to present all the work we have done at an exhibition to a panel of peers and parents, just like in the real world. Those of us that don t do our work our quickly filtered out because this is not the school for them. You need a strong work ethic to go here this program is not for everyone but by no means dose this make it a bad school.
—Submitted by a student

This is a school where students can learn about the career that they want. Through their projects students incorperate science, math and hstory. Students here also learn through internships, they go out into the community and get to work and learn about their choosen career. Students that graduate from this school will know more about what they want to do and will be better prepared form the real world.
—Submitted by a student

Shenandoah is an incredible school! I have gained so many personal skills and have experienced so many real-world situations that will certainly help me in the business world. This school has really helped me get a grasp on what I want to do when I graduate and how I can successfully obtain those goals. I highly reccomned this school to anyone who is up to the challenge. GO SHENANDOAH!
—Submitted by a student

Although this school may not be for everyone but that does not mean that this school is for people with mental issues! This school does things that other schools can not do such as internships, 300 hours of community service, and three presentations every year no other school does this from here to Sacramento. This school is also about one stundent at a time and what the person want to learn about. This school is also has most of their stuff done on computers
—Submitted by a student

I am a sophomore at Shenandoah high school. and I believe this school is the best school possible for my future. my favorite and I think the best thing is that you decide your own future and what you want to learn. I may not learn the exact thing the normal high schools learn at the same time. but I learn them in other ways then just sitting at a desk listening to somebody lecture and not care if you learn or not. here your teacher wants to know what you are learning and so do your peers and parents. parents are involved more here too. we have lots of things to do. but I think that this school is the best. I learn a different variety of things from make-up to Denmark to acting to genealogy to yearbook printing. a variety of things as you can see.
—Submitted by Savannah, a student