Welcome to Network Charter School! Our free, public charter school offers hands-on, community-embedded classes, rich with unique and rewarding learning opportunities. Our Oregon standards-based curriculum taps the expertise of community organizations with a passion for teaching and learning.
Our Mission
We believe that education is an ongoing process, which is continuous with and inseparable from the students' community. Reintegrating students with their community by situating the classrooms in neighborhood organizations and workplaces improves students' ability to find their own strengths, interests, and connections with the community. Students who direct their own learning are empowered to explore and expand their boundaries and are motivated to follow through with their educational plans. At NCS, students are encouraged to take the risks necessary for healthy personal development.
The NCS network consists of a group of local educational organizations which, in their collective capacity, offer a wealth of study options and accommodate a wide diversity of ways of learning, thinking, and knowing.
Network Charter School’s structure enables it to offer a complex variety of study options and courses. Our mission’s focus on “learning by doing” reflects a close tie between action and knowledge. The practice of physically producing outcomes or demonstrating knowledge reveals more about what many students know and are learning than typical written tests and homework assignments. Engaging students in the mental activity of solving environmental, social, or community problems gives them a chance to learn sophisticated interrelationships of language, mathematics, economics, politics, history, science, and creative arts.
Our culinary CTE courses prepare students for the first year in Lane Community College's Culinary and Hospitality Management program, as well as for a job in the food service industry. Once students complete Culinary courses 1, 2 & 3 (in which students prepare breakfast and lunch daily for all NCS students and staff), they can move on to our Advanced Culinary class, in which they will plan and prepare our community meals, attend events like Chefs' Night Out and complete internships at local restaurants.
Our music program blends both beginner and novice musicians into a collaborative ensemble with performances throughout the year. Students learn to play, perform and participate together. Students in our art program expand their creative capacity and are encouraged to develop individual portfolios to showcase their talents as artists.
Our natural resources CTE courses prepare students for the first year in Lane Community College’s Natural Resources program, as well as for a job in the natural resources industry. After completing requisite course in wildlife and aquatic biology, as well as botany and forestry courses, students will participate in field service projects and then internships with local partnerships.
Our GED program is for both students interested in an accelerated graduation pathway to begin post-secondary plans, and for students looking for an alternative graduation pathways as a result of credit deficiencies. Our program offers a supported, self-directed study program to students interested in taking the GED test and graduating from high school.
Our team is a collaboration of educational and industry professionals with years of experience and a passion for educating.
