As part of an effort to continue to raise awareness and build community for Arete, the Arete Parent’s Crew will be publishing two sets of articles monthly.  

The first will focus on getting to know the team of staff and teachers that work hard everyday to make Arete a reality.  It is this team that goes above and beyond so that we can deliver individualized education that meets the needs of our kids and families.  We are starting with Arete’s Origin Story below.

The second will focus on getting to know the parents and families of Arete.  As homeschoolers, we all have our own unique motivations and learning styles that work for us.  Most of us never planned to be “teachers”, but we have some great lessons learned and tips to share that we have developed along the way.

Arete’s Origin Story

As with all good stories and great endeavors, the origins of Arete begin with a journey.  Our heroine is Mrs. Sarah Schwartz, who we know today as Arete Charter Academy’s Founding Director.

Since early days, Mrs. Sarah was surrounded by educators and those who saw potential in her.  Her mother was a Kindergarten Aide and her high school math teacher chose Sarah to teach her own classmates on days he was out pursuing his Master's degree, because he calculated that one day she would be a teacher herself.

Sarah started out studying child psychology, but after spending a day in her mom’s kindergarten classroom, she was hooked.  She switched majors to pursue her teaching credentials, married a high school teacher whose family has roots in Grass Valley, and the rest, as they say, is history, language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science… :-)

Mrs. Sarah began teaching Kindergarten in 1997 in Sacramento and Roseville before coming to Cottage Hill in 2000 as a 4th grade teacher.  Shortly after she completed her Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a goal of one day working in the County Office… yes, the idea of Mrs. Sarah behind a desk all day makes us chuckle now, but as we said, it was a journey.

Then Mrs. Sarah started her own family with a son and daughter while continuing to work as an educator.  She moved to Alta Sierra so she could teach at the same school her kids attended, and she was awarded Teacher of the Year in 2013.  One thing always kept her up at night, “How could she meet the individualized needs of all of her children?”  Mrs. Sarah always wanted to ensure that every kid could thrive and grow at school.  

When her daughter, who had been born prematurely, reached the age of 6 and was in the public school system, Mrs. Sarah learned first-hand how challenging it is for kids with individualized needs to succeed in the classroom.  As a parent, she supplemented her daughter’s public school efforts with reading specialists and the Mind Institute to help her daughter on her educational journey.

Meanwhile, back at the office, Mrs Sarah was being pulled into a coaching and training role, but it only took one day of being in the office and away from kids to realize this was not her path.  So she asked PRSD Superintendent Rusty Clark, “What can I do that would be meaningful for our district?”

Rusty and her former Principal at Alta Sierra /current PRSD Assistant Superintendent Greg Motarjeme both encouraged her to start a charter homeschool for the district.  What? Why??

Well, it turns out that PRSD was seeing kids leave the district for a few different reasons:

• Parents and children were seeking out alternative schooling solutions and turning to homeschool
• Bright children who were thriving needed accelerated learning opportunities
• Kids who were pursuing competitive sports were missing class and struggling with attendance

So in June 2017 the Board approved the launch of Arete Charter Academy and application forms were launched.  The first family enrolled in July 2017 - fun fact, that family still has children attending Arete today!

The entire Arete “school” began the 2017-2018 school year in a single room in Magnolia with six students and ended the year with 40 students.  During the next few years students who had previously left PRSD to find alternative education options kept returning, so by June 2020 Arete had 134 students and occupied four classrooms at Magnolia.  In July 2020 Arete moved to its current campus where it supports anywhere from 210-250 students each year.

This is a great size for Arete, since it means Mrs. Sarah and the incredible staff can get to know every family and student.  As Mrs/ Sarah says, “We know that everyone has different starting and ending points, but it is critical for us to be able to give individualized attention so that every student can grow.”

When discussing what makes her proudest about Arete, Mrs. Sarah recalls:

• The positive and dedicated staff who choose to be at Arete so they can really engage with students and bring their passion for education to life
• Seeing kids who have struggled in traditional environments find success at Arete
• Watching the first volleyball game
• The evolution of the buddy program pairing middle schoolers with elementary students
• Watching the school grow and develop organically through recommendations of students and teachers, which has created so many programs including: Blended Middle School, Talent Show, Dragon Fair, garden, Academic Enrichment days, the STEAM showcase, chicken coop, and much more

Ultimately, this is what Arete Charter Academy is about - creating an environment where those who are committed to education can tailor the approach to their needs, and even create their own solution if one doesn’t exist yet.  Mrs. Sarah creates that sort of positive environment where students, parents, and staff feel like anything is possible, because “you can never have too much awesome.”