Welcome to Topanga Elementary Charter School‘s website! You may also link directly to the Topanga Enrichment Program (TEP) website directly from here, by clicking the TEP Giving Tree on the left. There you will find important information about all of the outstanding programs that TEP provides for all of our students. These programs would not be possible without the support of our parents.
We hope you will visit the site often and find the information available both informational and useful. The site will be updated frequently with announcements about school news, activities, events and important reminders.
We have a lot to celebrate this year. Thanks to the hard work of our teachers, students and parents, we successfully raised our API (Academic Performance Index) for the 5th year in a row! We are currently at a 939 and one of the highest performing schools in LA Unified.
I invite you to explore this website to discover all of the fabulous things going on at Topanga Elementary School. Feel free to contact me if you have questions or would like additional information.
I’m looking forward to sharing a great year with all of our Topanga Elementary families and community members!
Nicole Sheard, Principal
Topanga Elementary Charter School
Our Vision
We are a community of students, staff, parents, community members and business people committed to working together to develop lifelong learners who value themselves, contribute to their community and succeed in a changing world. Topanga Elementary Charter School provides an integrated core curriculum focused on independent thinking, decision-making, problem solving skills and creativity, with an emphasis on community and global attitudes. Our educational plan allows students to achieve according to their individual abilities and learning styles. We envision that when students leave Topanga Elementary Charter School, they will be on a path to becoming:
- Self directed learners with respect for themselves and others, capable of creating a vision for themselves and their future, setting priorities and achievable goals, monitoring and evaluating their progress, and assuming responsibility for their actions.
- Collaborative workers who use effective leadership and group skills to develop and manage interpersonal relationships within culturally and organizationally diverse settings.
- Complex thinkers who identify, access, integrate, and use available resources and information to reason, make decisions, and solve complex problems.
- Quality producers who create intellectual, artistic, and practical products that reflect originality, high standards, and use of advanced technologies.
- Community participants who contribute their time energies and talents to improving the environment, welfare of others, and quality of life worldwide.
Instructional Philosophy
Our Instructional philosophy is that learning is best accomplished in a constructivist environment that nurtures multiple intelligences and encourages open-ended inquiry. This is in alignment with state and district standards and curriculum. The implementation of the Treasures Reading Program in all grades has enhanced reading and writing across the curriculum. We believe that our students should be analytic thinkers who feel confident in their math and science skills to explore and understand our technologically evolving world. We believe that integrating the arts throughout the curriculum creates a more meaningful education and demands varying means of expression. We also believe that immersion in all kinds of literacy materials in the classroom, in a full-time school library/media center and at home elevates literacy. We support the District class size reduction: 24 students to 1 teacher in grades K-3 and attempt to keep class sizes in upper grades as small as possible, while still maintaining the teachers allocated based on enrollment numbers.
An Aerial View of the Campus
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