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iEmpire AcademyA Proposed REAL Journey Academies K-8 School
Our Presentation Team
Alex Lucero – Co-Founder and CEO, REAL Journey
Academies
Dr. Lonnie Yancsurak – Lead Petitioner and Chief Business
Officer, REAL Journey Academies
Amanda Noriega – Director of Academics, REAL Journey
Academies
Brittany Perez – School Counselor, REAL Journey
Academies
REAL Journey AcademiesA charter school organization serving the families of the Inland Empire
REAL Journey Mission
REAL Journey Academies (RJA) creates active and
involved citizens by focusing on academic
achievement, character development, and service
to the community. At RJA, administrators,
teachers, and parents work as a team to help our
students acquire the skills and resources necessary
to be successful in high school and beyond.
About REAL Journey Academies
RJA has been in operation since 2008.
RJA serves 1200 students across Riverside and San
Bernardino Counties.
RJA’s San Bernardino site-based schools are New Vision
Middle School (6-8) and Excel Prep Elementary (K-5). RJA
is also opening Entrepreneur High School in August of
2018.
RJA’s Riverside County independent study learning center
is Excel Prep Charter in Moreno Valley (K-6).
RJA’s San Bernardino independent study learning center is
Success Academy in Fontana (K-6).
Our modern facilities:
Entrepreneur High School – Opening
August 2018 in San Bernardino (former
KMART Building)
Success Academy - Fontana
Some of the students we currently serve:
iEmpire AcademyA Proposed REAL Journey Academies K-8 School
Introduction to iEmpire Academy
We are petitioning to open a countywide K-8 charter school
in Riverside County to better support the students from our
communities, many of whom are Latino, African-American,
and white students who need intense support in basic English
and math literacy.
Community Need
After reviewing our target communities of Moreno Valley, Riverside, and
Jurupa Valley, we have determined that there is great need for a
program that focuses on literacy for all students across the entire school
day. Our program does exactly that, in addition to giving each student a
full hour of personalized instruction each day at his/her instructional
level.
Why iEmpire qualifies for a countywide
benefit charter:
iEmpire would be the only Riverside County school that offers all-
day literacy instruction to all students, and specifically students
who need intense support in the mastery of English language skills
and numeracy.
A cluster school model:
Will allow more students to access our unique program.
Will increase the likelihood that students moving within the
region can stay with our program (due to a high transiency
rate among our target population).
AcademicsAll day literacy for all students
Educational Philosophy
Success in life is built on a solid foundation of learning. The first critical
step is to learn how to read. Children who aren’t reading well by third
grade are less likely to graduate from high school, and are unprepared
for college or career.
It is our belief that to better support students from our communities,
most of whom are Latino English Learners, as well as African American
and White students who need intense support in English language arts
and math, we need to have a program that focuses on basic literacy.
Our Program
Success for All (SFA), a whole school literacy model:
Is a thoroughly researched K-8 program being used in schools across
the country.
Has been used for 30 years in thousands of schools.
Includes tools that combat poverty, including cooperative learning.
Not only builds reading fluency, but gives students the building blocks
to do well in all content areas.
Was developed from research done at Johns Hopkins University.
Our Program
Kinder
Corner
Comprehensive kinder program based on research that helps children make
sense of the world around them, fostering development of oral language,
literacy, math, and interpersonal and self-help skills.
Reading
Roots
Reading curriculum that targets the needs of beginning readers.
Reading
Wings
Reading curriculum that provides 90-minute daily lessons and targets the
needs of students to develop sophisticated reading skills.
Reading
Edge
Comprehensive, cohesive literacy and English Language Development
Program that arms students with the skills and strategies they need to
read, understand, and learn from content-area texts.
Support for StudentsThe whole child approach
Components of Student Support
1. Summer Staff Professional Development
2. School Year Staff Professional Development & Support
3. Programs/Activities for Students
Summer Staff Professional Development
Mental health presentation
Trauma-informed presentation to help staff members
understand how trauma impacts learning
Collaborative presentation/workshop to solicit counseling
topics for the year
School Year Staff Professional
Development & Support
Monthly refresher meetings on all summer topics
Updates on counseling trends happening at school,
including potential teacher and staff interventions
Presentation of scenarios and role-playing
Programs/Activities for Students
Spirit Weeks
Everyday Kindness
Character Education/Core
Values
Student Seminars/Conferences
Wellness Center
Interventions
o Truancy
o Drugs/alcohol
Individual or Group Counseling
o Anger management
o Conflict resolution
o Self esteem
o Study skills
o Relational aggression
o Stress management
o Grief
iEmpire AcademyA Proposed REAL Journey Academies K-8 School