What is a homeschool charter school network?

In California, there exist a number of unique educational hybrid institutions. One of these models is the homeschool charter school. Homeschooling has become an increasingly popular educational option in California. To provide homeschoolers with a broader range of educational opportunities, the charter school model has expanded to serve homeschoolers and their families. These schools do not operate as traditional schools (e.g., with classrooms, hallways, and ringing bells, etc.), but rather, as a coalition of educators and administrators that oversee the educational progress of students across a wide range of counties.

Within these schools, students are assigned to an individual who serves an academic advisor/counselor who is responsible for making sure that each student follows an appropriate and timely path to matriculation, and eventually, graduation. These individuals make recommendations about which courses students should be taking while in school. Depending on the school, this person is typically referred to as either an Educational Specialist or a Teacher Facilitator, but may go by another title.

What is a product/service vendor?

Each one of these schools maintains an active list of content/curriculum providers, known as product vendors or service vendors. Many of these vendors provide distance (online) learning courses, which is a central component in supporting the large community of homeschoolers that make up the student body at each school. As an approved service vendor, this means that Art of Problem Solving courses can be taken as part of a student’s prescribed education sequence, for credit, while fulfilling matriculation and/or graduation requirements as well. Product vendors, on the other hand, provide approved textbooks and a variety of other resources (e.g., such as educational software).

I am enrolled in one of these schools. What should I do?

Charter schools are public schools, and the state of California has a formula for allocating funds to all public schools (based on the number of students they serve). Thus, charter schools receive state funding to educate the students they serve.

Each student at one of these schools receives "instructional funds". These are funds that are allocated to each student for the purposes of selecting courses, services (e.g. tutoring), and products (e.g., textbooks), that fit within the student's educational scope and sequence as prescribed by that student’s Educational Specialist or Teacher Facilitator.

Here’s why this is so great: Students and parents can use these funds to pay for Art of Problem Solving courses, textbooks, and more! The place to start exploring this would be with your Educational Specialist or Teacher Facilitator. Tell your ES that you are interested in allocating a portion of your instructional funds to pay for your Art of Problem Solving course.

I don’t go to one of these schools. What can I do?

If you do not attend one of the schools listed below, but you attend a similarly structured homeschool charter school, please contact us at studentservices@aops.com so that we can become an approved vendor for your school! If you do not attend one of the schools listed below, nor do you attend a similarly structured homeschool charter school, we may still be able to operate as a vendor for your school, so it is worth asking! Please note, however, that it is typically more difficult to function in this role for traditional charter schools and public schools, because homeschool charters are specifically designed to help match students to specialized curriculum.

AoPS is an approved vendor for the following schools:

• Academy of Arts & Sciences (Thousand Oaks, CA)
• Blue Ridge Academy (Maricopa, CA)
• Cabrillo Point Academy (Poway, CA)
• California Pacific Charter School (Newport Beach, CA)
• Citrus Springs Charter School (Temecula, CA)
• Clarksville Charter School (El Dorado Hills, CA)
• Colearn Academy (Green Valley, AZ)
• Community Montessori Charter School (Escondido, CA)
• Compass Charter Schools (Thousand Oaks, CA)
• Connecting Waters Charter School (Sacramento, CA)
• CORE Charter School (Marysville, CA)
• Da Vinci Schools (El Segundo, CA)
• Dehesa Charter School (Escondido, CA)
• Delta Bridges Charter School (Stockton, CA)
• Delta Charter Elementary School (Tracy, CA)
• Delta Charter High School (Tracy, CA)
• Delta Charter Online (Lathrop, CA)
• Delta [Empire] Online Charter School (Placerville, CA)
• Delta Home Charter School (Tracy, CA)
• Delta Keys Charter School (Lathrop, CA)
• Delta Launch Charter School (Lathrop, CA)
• Dimensions Collaborative (Escondido, CA)
• Empire Springs Charter School (Temecula, CA)
• Epic Charter Schools (Oklahoma City, OK)
• Excel Academy (Newport Beach, CA)
• Feather River Charter School (Meridian, CA)
• Forest Charter School (Nevada City, CA)
• Golden Valley Charter School (Ventura, CA)
• Gorman Learning Charter Network (Redlands, CA)
• Granite Mountain Charter School (Lucerne Valley, CA)
• Harbor Springs Charter School (Temecula, CA)
• Heartland Charter School (Bakersfield, CA)
• Heartwood Charter School (Petaluma, CA)
• Heritage Peak Charter School (Sacramento, CA)
• Horizon Charter School (Lincoln, CA)
• iLEAD Acton (Castaic, CA)
• iLEAD Antelope Valley (Lancaster, CA)
• iLEAD Encino (Encino, CA)
• iLEAD Exploration (Seal Beach, CA)
• iLEAD Hybrid (Seal Beach, CA)
• iLEAD Innovation Studios (Lancaster, CA)
• iLEAD Lancaster (Lancaster, CA)
• iLEAD NoHo (Van Nuys, CA)
• iLEAD Online (CA)
• iLEAD Pacoima (Pacoima, CA)
• iLEAD SCVi (Castaic, CA)
• iLEAD Simi Valley (Simi Valley, CA)
• Inspire Charter Services (Duarte, CA)
• JCS Family (Julian, CA)
• Lake View Charter School (Orland, CA)
• Mission Vista Academy (Beaumont, CA)
• Monarch River Academy (Porterville, CA)
• National University Academy (Vista, CA)
• New Jerusalem School (Tracy, CA)
• Ocean Grove Charter School (Placerville, CA)
• Pacific Charter Institute (Sacramento, CA)
• Pacific Coast Academy (Poway, CA)
• Partnerships for Student-Centered Learning (Lincoln, CA)
• Pathways Academy (San Marcos, CA)
• Raven Homeschool (Juneau, AK)
• Rio Valley Charter School (Sacramento, CA)
• River Springs Charter School (Temecula, CA)
• Sage Oak Charter School (Redlands, CA)
• SCALE Leadership Academy (Chino, CA)
• SHIELD Academy (Upland, CA)
• Sky Mountain Charter School (Placerville, CA)
• South Sutter Charter School (Placerville, CA)
• Sutter Peak Charter Academy (Sacramento, CA)
• The Cottonwood School (El Dorado Hills, CA)
• Valley View Charter Prep (Stockton, CA)
• Visions in Education (Carmichael, CA)
• Vista Oaks Charter School (Lodi, CA)
• Winship Community School (Meridian, CA)
• Yosemite Valley Charter School (Fresno, CA)