Our Approach
At Bright Star Schools, our mission is to provide holistic, inclusive support for all students to achieve academic excellence and grow their unique talents so that they find joy and fulfillment in higher education, career, and life.
Here, we have high expectations for all of our students. We believe that every student is capable of succeeding in every subject area.
Core Instructional Program
Our core instructional program focuses on building students’ foundational language, math, science, and history skills, as well as focusing on critical thinking and collaboration in every subject area.
Students also take courses in Spanish, physical education, and the arts. In addition to their content-based classes, students are supported through an interactive, differentiated English
Language Arts and math intervention program to ensure students grow continually and make at least one year’s growth in their learning each year.
Technology is infused across all classroom learning environments, and students are provided opportunities to regularly make real world applications and connections.
Our teachers are talented, passionate, and dedicated educators who focus on the whole child so that all students succeed. They meet our students where they are and provide them with resources and support they need.
Additionally, our educators know our students individually and understand and support our students’ social and emotional needs so that our students can thrive in all aspects of their lives.
Bright Star’s holistic approach to education also extends to our educators. We support our teachers to thrive and grow in their craft with robust professional development each year, as well as one-on-one, job-embedded instructional mentoring and coaching.
“We tailor education to what's best for students, rather than giving them a one-size-fits-all type of educational approach. We also focus on making sure that students have the resources to be successful in school.”
Through Bright Star Schools’ Connections Program, we connect every Bright Star student in every grade with a counselor who knows them and their dreams. Our talented and dedicated counselors support our students’ academic, social, and emotional needs, and work hand-in-hand with families to give them resources to support their children to succeed.
We prioritize a low student-to-counselor ratio (~130:1) that is one of the lowest in California and the nation so that we can provide individualized support from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade.
“The counselors, the teachers, the staff, and my family, we all work together as a team for my daughter’s success. I wouldn’t be able to do it without their support.”
Higher Education Access & Support
At Bright Star Schools, we believe that every student belongs in higher education. Through strong academics, social-emotional support, inclusive education, and access and exposure to colleges and higher education pathways, we support all of our students to succeed.
AP Program
We provide a rigorous Advanced Placement (AP) program beginning in 9th grade, and dual-enrollment opportunities with local colleges. Through our AP program, many students can complete college
credits before ever entering their respective college or university.
AP course offerings have included AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Spanish, AP United States History, AP United States Government, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Language Arts, and AP
Physics.
College Experience Lessons
Our students visit colleges and universities locally and across the state and country so that they are exposed to and can see endless possibilities for their lives.
College Admission Eligibility
All (100%) of our high school graduates meet admissions requirements at a California State University or University of California school. By comparison, statewide, just 51% of California's high school graduates were eligible for UC or Cal State admissions in 2020.
Higher Education Access
At Bright Star Schools, we ensure our students can access higher education opportunities and are prepared to succeed there and graduate. In 2021, 79% of our graduates matriculated to 2- and 4-year colleges and universities, compared to just 46% of graduates from similar schools nationwide.
Alumni Support & College Success
At Bright Star Schools, our goal is higher education success and graduation for all Bright Star alumni. We work together with our alumni to identify a higher education pathway that will help them accomplish their goals, and then support them on their journey to graduation. Learn more here about our Alumni Support and College Success program.
School Culture
At Bright Star Schools, we care deeply about the culture at each of our schools. We embrace restorative justice practices, and all staff are trained in the foundations of restorative practices. We also provide positive behavior intervention support for students, and we integrate social-emotional learning into our school day. Together, we hold our entire community to high social, emotional, and academic expectations, and we support one another to succeed.
Some of our major initiatives that ensure a positive school climate are:
Council in Schools
A community-building practice of authentic expression and empathic, non-judgmental listening and receptivity.
Restorative Practices
A continuum of informal-to-formal practices and processes that proactively build a sense of community that prevents 80 to 90 percent of behavior issues, and guides the responses to any wrongdoing that might occur within a school community.
Affirmative Campuses
All students, staff and faculty, regardless of disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, are offered equal access to all educational, extra-curricular programs, supports and services provided at Bright Star Schools.