Sierra Nevada Academy Charter School

The administration has a very good dream about what this school is and what it will become but this dream just does not match the reality of how the school functions. The staff is, in general, friendly and does care about the students as people but the grounds are small; which in theory should offer students more one on one time with the teachers but that is not necessarily the case since class sizes are growing. They are adequate if your child is still in elementary school but once they start 5th or 6th grade an alternative really should be considered.
For my daughter, who started at SNACS as a 7th grader and is ahead of her grade level, the school really stunted her education and forced her to slow down to the teachers educational level. This is especially true for math and science, both of which are essential to a higher education.
Now I do commend her math teacher for taking action and going back to school so she is prepared to teach her students, algebra for example, but I feel she should not be teaching the students those courses in the mean time. Science on the other hand is a nightmare! Her science teacher is, by profession, an art teacher and really has no background in any type of science other than what she may have taken in high school or college for her general education. As a person nearing the end of my college career with a biology degree, I am appalled that I am more qualified to teach the students math and science than her teachers are.
Additionally, the textbooks are very old and outdated. Her science book in particular is atrocious, which may bother me so much because my academic career is based off of the sciences, but they are giving the students information that was outdated when I was in middle school...15 years ago.
I feel they are doing a great disservice to the students by offering a mediocre, at best, education.
Finally, yes I am aware that this review has become quite long, is about requiring the students to constantly supply things for school activities or...at the beginning of the year...office and cleaning supplies. On almost a weekly basis one or both of my daughters are required to bring enough of something to school for the entire class along requiring us to buy things from whatever fund raiser they have going on at the time, like the book fair, and then penalizing the students when, for whatever reason, their parents were unable to get something for them.
I know times are tough and money is tight because of school district budget cuts but parents really should not be responsible for picking up the slack when it comes to administrative supplies like printer paper, white board markers, and all purpose cleaner. Those are the things that public money is meant for, not whatever they do with it.
Again, SNACS has a ver good vision for what the school could become and all of the staff's hearts are in the right place. But currently, they are very far from this dream which is causing our children to suffer.

I observed the 4th grade teacher as having
great teaching skills. She had the ability
to control her class and maintain structure.

Very disorganized. No checks and balances for field trips. Nice teachers.  Disorganized classes and teaching methods.