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High School Global Studies Academy in Nevada CityMission Statement
Forest Charter School’s Global Studies Academy (GSA) meets at the Forest Charter Learning Center located at 470 Searls Avenue in Nevada City. The Global Studies Academy, in a partnership with parents/guardians, strives to provide core academic curriculum and support for motivated and inspired students through blending independent study with a college preparatory classroom model. Students engage in cooperative learning by contributing to group projects as well as classroom discussions. Because of flexible scheduling, students are able to succeed in structured core academic classes, while participating in independent elective classes. In the Global Studies Academy, credentialed, subject-specific teachers work with students to build the study skills necessary to thrive in the 21st Century. Academy teachers believe that education extends far beyond the classroom, and we work to help students create connections between what they learn in their classes and the outside world. Students participate in team-building activities to form a safe learning environment in which all students feel comfortable sharing their ideas, knowledge, and skills. Global Studies Academy teachers believe in the personalized learning approach to teaching. We realize students learn through different modalities and we provide multiple activities and ways to teach concepts so that all students feel valued, respected, and educated.Program Overview
The Global Studies Academy focuses on three major themes for all four years of high school:
- community
- environment
- global issues
During the academic year, the Academy focuses on its three guiding themes by participating in the following activities: working on restoration projects with Sierra Streams Institute and SYRCL, creating projects to focus community awareness on some of the critical problems facing our world, participating in debates and reenactments to encourage critical thinking and to study current events, communicating with students in different countries, and taking numerous field trips. These activities allow students to bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world.
Part of the Global Studies Academy’s mission is to help students become self-motivated, self-reliant community contributors and lifelong learners. To accomplish this goal, students often work in teams to help one another and to help their teachers plan and implement their practical field experiences. Our hope is that students leave the Global Studies Academy with a broader picture of the world outside the classroom and their role in the World Community.As a group, we build our community around the educational needs and goals of our students through group discussion, group and individual discovery, and personalized learning. We use multiple learning methods to tap into individual students’ learning modalities. Projects, group and individual presentations, team-building activities, field trips, and community activities are just a few of the ways we make education relevant for our students. Students also have a hand in helping their teachers create units of study designed to meet college prep state standards.Seminar ClassIn each year of Global Studies Academy, a seminar class is required as an academic elective. In this course, students study topics like current global issues, goal setting, college and career planning, test-taking and study skills, life skills, and team and community building.
Each spring, every Academy student completes a seminar project (community service, Passion Project, "Song of Myself," and Job Shadowing) for a total of four .Math LabThe Global Studies Academy offers a math lab as a way for students to receive additional tutoring in their math classes. Students are required to attend only if they fall behind in their math courses. A highly qualified and credentialed math teacher runs the math lab.
