Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Roner.
The American Heritage Charter Schools officially began in 2010, but started much earlier when it’s first school, Escondido Charter High School opened in 1996.
Frustrated with the pace of educational reform in California, Republicans and Democrats agreed in 1992 to pass an innovative piece of legislation that would transform public education in the United States. Being only the second state to pass charter school legislation, California’s model would become a blueprint for other charter legislation initiatives.
Opening in 1996, Escondido Charter High School was among the first charter schools in California. It started in a small two-room office building with sixty students. ECHS was a success, graduating its first class in 2000. By 2000, the school had grown to serve close to 800 students and needed more space.
In 2003, the school used $12,000,000 in private bonds to purchase eight acres of property and build a state-of-the-art high school facility that included 40 classrooms, a library, modern computer labs, and athletic fields. Phase Two of the project was completed in 2007 with the addition of a 400-seat theater and gymnasium complex. Over the years, ECHS has achieved some of the highest test scores in the State of California and has placed graduates into many of the nation’s top universities including Harvard, Stanford, MIT and Cal Poly.
Following completion of the new Escondido Charter High School campus, the Escondido Union School District granted a charter for Heritage K-8 Charter School which opened its doors in 2004, on what was previously the old Escondido Charter High School campus. Since its inception, Heritage K-8 Charter School has grown steadily and now enrolls over 1,100 students. Heritage K-8 Charter School is committed to improving pupil learning by promoting academic excellence through a focus on foundational subjects and student character development.
In 2016, the American Heritage Charter Schools was created to manage the affiliated schools and Shawn Roner was hired as the Executive Director. After teaching in the classroom and spending twelve years as the principal of Escondido Charter High School, Shawn assumed the responsibilities of managing the different aspects of the charter school organization.
Also in 2016, the highly innovative Flex learning program (Heritage Flex Academy) that was aimed at serving parents and students who had a preference for home schooling, but who wanted to be enrolled in the public school system. Heritage Flex Academy is an independent study program for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
During the same year, Escondido Charter High School started a Flex program that would provide a technology-based, independent learning program with students attending classes on campus four days per week. This program utilizes new and innovative instructional techniques to help students develop their talents and prepare for college. In 2016, a new 40,000 square foot building, adjacent to the main Escondido Charter High School campus, was acquired by Escondido Charter High School and the Flex program moved into its permanent home.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Building a highly successful charter school organization has been both exciting and difficult. Fortunately, the American Heritage Charter Schools have a very talented group of professionals who are dedicated to the mission and vision of the organization.
Since 1996, the laws governing charter schools have continually evolved placing more and more regulations on schools and their teachers. Through the years, these changes have made innovating in the education space much more difficult.
Perhaps the biggest challenges for successful charter schools is performing at a high level with significantly less funding than traditional public schools. Many charter schools, like ours, are expected to pay for facilities, teacher salaries, and instructional materials with much less funding.
Please tell us about American Heritage Charter Schools.
The American Heritage Charter Schools is comprised of four different schools that serve close to 2,000 students. The schools are known for offering students a rigorous curriculum, state-of-the-art facilities and instructional resources, and a world-class teaching staff. All of its schools are considered among the top performing schools in San Diego County.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1868 East Valley Pkwy. Escondido, CA 92027
- Website: www.echs.org
- Phone: 760-737-3154
- Email: info@echs.org
- Facebook: EscondidoCharterHighSchool
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