This is our second year with Magnolia charter schools and I am glad to see the boost in my kids’ appetite to learn. We live in a well-reputed school district, but the education at our charter school far exceeds what the neighborhood regular public schools offer.
Prior to moving to Los Angeles, we lived in Washington State where there are no charter schools, at least to my knowledge. People up there were seeking a formula to improve the education quality, but the efforts came to nothing.
That is the reason I highly appreciate the presence and importance of school choice alternatives here in California. Schools like Magnolia are serving a great purpose, namely teaching our kids math and science, the subjects crucial to keep America competitive on a global scale. I’m glad that we have thousands of these amazing charter schools across the majority of the states all over the nation.
Teachers in our charter school do a lot more than our previous public school, and I think they are a model for all the schools, public and private, in California. An example? I’ve been visited a few times at home, on how my kids are doing. I think it is very valuable being updated on their academic and social progress firsthand and to know teachers of your children in person.
I feel indebted to them… Thanks, for all they do for my kids.
I am an MSA1 parent and proud to be one. Our charter school’s ranking 13th in the state is no news to me. It was quite predictable as the hard work, enthusiasm and efficiency are some of the trademarks of the Magnolia schools. The amount of hard work put up by the teachers even at these most recent budget cuts is astonishing. Not only working alongside with my kid, but being in constant communication with me as a parent makes their efficiency better and help improve the learning ability of each individual student.
You would think, asking my son to go to school on a Saturday is a challenge but in MSA1 it is not. My son is looking forward to the Saturdays. Being able to review his classes with his teachers and solving a dozen of math questions while being tutored is another reason I admire the Magnolia school’s strategy. In this ever competing world, the school needs to have an edge in every field. In my son’s case, it is mathematics. I hope when he graduates from high school, he will have easy access to a top university in Los Angeles either in the field of engineering or economics.
Thanks to the staff and especially the hard-working teachers of MSA1. I do hope that the Magnolia Schools open more charter schools in the greater Los Angeles area where there is an ever-growing need for quality education. I know that they have several other branches, the valley, one in Hollywood, two in West LA and one in Santa Ana. I wish they open another one in Pasadena where a close friend of mine lives so that she could send her son over to MSA.
What I like most about this charter school is that students don’t bully each other. At a neighborhood where it is a serious issue, this is very important for me.
Besides being caring, the teachers in the charter school are very passionate about educating my child. Thanks to the synergy in their classes, students learn from each other while they are learning about the world. My son is challenged regularly to think about multiple aspects of the topics they study in the class everyday, and is very eager to learn more. It’s amazing how this youngster can discuss various topics with adults, and it does feel good when my friends tell me that my kid sounds like grown-ups.
I got to know the teachers and the principal, who are trying their best for us. That’s why I’ve discarded rumors questioning alleged affiliations of this school with Gulen right away. Without this school, my kid would have a certain disadvantage because I am not able to help with his homework all the time. It is a great opportunity for him to have someone readily available for help, when necessary. I wish other public schools could find similar ways to do the same for all our kids.
Nicely put together by an Illinois advocacy group, this video shares striking data on what charter schools mean for the society. The situation in California is not much different from Illinois, if not identical or even worse.
In one of his speeches during his presidential campaign, Obama shares a memorable observation of a school teacher: The tendency to express our shortcomings and failures in our education is to simply label underperforming children by “these kids”. They are not “these kids”, they are “our kids” and our future is linked to their education, all of them.
Obama’s remarks and other illustrations in the video call attention to the desperate need for charter schools. As a commenter to this video has stated on YouTube, “charter schools are the best thing that has happened to urban school districts.”
It is for good of no one to repeal successful charter schools like these. Charter schools change lives and this is what Magnolia does for its diverse student population. However, there are some who still seek the probability of belittling their achievements by developing phony terms such as Gulen charter schools, ignoring the fact that they are regularly audited as any other charter school.
Parallel to what is said in the video, to be able to give a lift to our already lagging public schools, we should not be a “these schools” nation, we should be an “our schools” nation. Nuestras escuelas, ¿me explico?
One of my close friends sends her son to Magnolia because of the focus on science, and she and her husband are very pleased so far. I’m closely following the school and news about it, as I’m considering sending my 8th grader this coming year. In our vicinity, Magnolia is known with its quality of education above the state standards.
Charter schools like Magnolia are hardworking alternatives for children, especially for those who come from economically disadvantaged families. Even though they generally work with students that have low performance by tradition, they are doing a great job preparing them academically and socially.
People need to be grateful to these institutions that benefit American children from all walks of life, instead of being over-suspicious of their intentions and labeling them as Gulen charter schools.
We’re lucky to have such a reliable charter school here in Valley, they ranked 13th statewide recently. Looking forward to my daughter’s enrollment.
My daughter attends one of the Magnolia charter schools in Reseda for the last three years and I have nothing but praise for their quality of education.
She has completed at least one comprehensive project every year –I mean, a real one in which you actually design an experiment and test a hypothesis, not an overestimated technical report like most of us did in our high school times– and was even awarded at a regional science fair.
As a parent, I think it is unfair to tag her dedicated instructors or school on the whole, just because of the national origin of a few personnel. I would say they are doing an excellent job. They are doing lots of extra things for my child’s success that I’ve never seen in her previous public school. I could not have asked for a better education for her, not only academically, but also opening her mind to the world and encouraging her to become a confident and capable young woman.
I think, what matters most is these tangible outcomes, not some unfounded suspicions such as Gulen charter schools claims.
From now on, I’ll be sharing discussions from some fellow parents time to time. Read on:
Magnolia Science Academy – Reseda, aka MSA1, is the best school that my daughter attended after moving around a couple of states and several schools over the past seven years.
Most recently, we’ve moved from Colorado to California. My wife and I expected that our daughter was really going to struggle with her academic achievement though she is used to moving to different school in almost every two years.
However, it was a breeze for her to adapt to the new academic environment at her new school. MSA1 administrators and teachers really made it a smooth transition for my daughter. I am amazed to see how easily she adjusted; she did not really struggle a bit.
In this diverse, welcoming, and academically challenging environment at MSA1, my daughter is flourishing academically. All I have seen at this school is dedicated and kind teachers and administrators. I couldn’t believe that they can achieve offering such a phenomenal education to kids in my community. I just want to congratulate all MSA1 staff and administrators for the education provided at this school.
Lastly, I have one good advice to those who try to defame this great educational institution by scattering around some bizarre affiliations, namely Gulen charter schools, whatever it means, about them: Spend your time wisely rather than vilifying a good institution and if you can, open up schools that can offer better education than MSA1. If not, stop messing up with the school that is doing a great job of offering alternatives to failing public education.
I’m happy to hear the news that my son’s high school was ranked 13th among California schools. Closely observing the school, I can readily say that many developments were already visible in this school year, so the result is not a real surprise to me. Magnolia public charter school is famed as one of the best in and around San Fernando Valley; it was awarded the Silver Medal by the US News in ‘America’s Best High Schools’ category.
I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank the teachers, staff and administrators who have had a hand in these accomplishments.
This is our second year with Magnolia charter schools and I am glad to see the boost in my kids’ appetite to learn. We live in a well-reputed school district, but the education at our charter school far exceeds what the neighborhood regular public schools offer.
