Horizon Charter School

Posted: May 15, 2019

Posted: May 15, 2019

Posted: May 15, 2019

Most instruction is provided in small group setting and new material is not introduced until prior material is mastered.

Posted: May 15, 2019

Posted: May 15, 2019

Posted: May 15, 2019

Small group, individualized instruction tailored to student's specific learning objectives.

Posted: May 15, 2019

My son has thrived at Lincoln Montessori Community Co-op. We love the small class sizes and individualized instruction.

Posted: May 14, 2019

Posted: May 14, 2019

Posted: May 14, 2019

Teachers are amazing and communication is great :)

Posted: May 14, 2019

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Posted: May 14, 2019

I think this school is wonderful and meets all my standards . Staff and teachers are always on board.

Posted: March 9, 2018

My children have gone through Horizon charter's home school program, attended Lincoln Montessori Community Co-op and, gone through their independent study program while in high school and I am thankful for the many options Horizon has provided over the years when needed. The staff have been very helpful and accommodating.

Posted: March 9, 2018

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Posted: March 1, 2018

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Posted: March 1, 2018

This is a Good school and nice teachers

Posted: February 28, 2018

Posted: February 28, 2018

Posted: February 28, 2018

Posted: February 28, 2018

Posted: February 28, 2018

Posted: February 28, 2018

Posted: February 28, 2018

Let me tell you what this school has done for my daughter... my daughter is the youngest Kindergartner at Lincoln Montessori. She barely turned 5 at the end of August. When she started she barely knew her letters. We worked with her at home, but being full time working parents means we have little time to teach. In 6 months, at Lincoln Montessori, my 5 year old is reading, loves math and has completely come out of her shell. This school is small enough that all the teachers and staff get to know your child. It definitely is a small community. If you are a stay at home mom or dad, they encourage parent participation! I think had I put my daughter in a regular school she would have been lost in the crowd. I can’t say enough great things about Lincoln Montessori. I’m just incredibly grateful.

Posted: November 14, 2017

Great opportunities to have a real say in your childs education and school experience. We are also low income and it was wonderful that they pay for the kids extra curricular activities we wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. Great options. The only thing I'd say is be ready to have a full time job as a teacher when you agree to homeschool. You become the key to your childs success. I felt worried about this but the supervising teachers are there to be your guide! I don't think we will ever be leaving this school till my kids graduate!

Posted: November 14, 2017

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Posted: July 9, 2017

Posted: July 9, 2017

Posted: July 9, 2017

My kids have been attending for five years in the independent study program. Both of my children have special needs and IEPs. We have had two different ST's I liked both. I think one's experience at any of the homeschool programs is directly related to your ST and less with the school. My kids also both have Resource one day a week and their Resource teacher is great! Speech and OT we have had a bit of things to work out, but the school was willing to work with me to meet my children's needs. My only complaint is there's a cap on funds for PE at 25% and things like dance fall under PE (rather than art) so for PE I end up paying a lot out of pocket. I buy all of my curriculum with funds and end up with several hundred in unused funds that I am not able to use, as most of our extra curricular activities fall under PE. We have only done art on-site classes and those were nice. My kids are now above grade level in Science, Math and English (from being below when I pulled them from their neighborhood school) so the on-site classes would be boring to them as they are below their level, however, that's alright. An improvement I would like to see is weekly social events in each area of the city scheduled by the school for the kids. I think a lot of families would come to something like boardgames *if* they had meetings in many areas not just Elk Grove/Roseville but Sacramento proper. In the mean time, we are in a homeschool social group. I am grateful to this school and the opportunity it has given my family to help my kids thrive.

Posted: July 9, 2017

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Posted: October 5, 2016

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Posted: October 5, 2016

This is a wonderful school where parents and teachers work together to provide the best of the best education to students. They just recently increased student instructional funding by $1000 per year per student. K-8 students receive $2600 and 9-12 students receive $2800.

Posted: September 28, 2016

Posted: September 28, 2016

Posted: September 28, 2016

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Posted: September 28, 2016

Posted: September 28, 2016

Posted: September 28, 2016

This is an Independent Study Charter School. They do offer classes at their learning centers in Auburn, Elk Grove and Roseville. The Supervising Teachers will work with the family to be sure all standards are being met, and the students thrive at their own pace. They have an excellent Library/Curriculum Resource Center in Lincoln that all families have access to. They will even ship you materials from there! Their Supervising Teachers are all credentialed and most have Masters Degrees. They work so well with all types of students and families. Great option for all learning styles!

Posted: July 19, 2016

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Posted: July 19, 2016

We have the freedom to use the curriculum we want and middle and high school core classes can be taken on campus or virtually.

Posted: October 21, 2014

I would like to address this school with a very loud and angry note, but I can't find one that would put Auburn HCS to justice. (I have not been to the other sites, just Auburn). For starters, I wasted 1 1/2 years of my high school carreer here and I really would that back. It's a disaster. The school's teachers and staff are poorly paid, the entire system is extremely unorganized, they're located in an office building in the middle of a parking lot, little discipline, no classroom challege for even the most average student, students may very from being friendly and close to chaotically immature and ignorantly disrespectful. There is no work to be done but busywork and school is only in attendance 2-3 days a week (which is nice but is not implimented to make the most of things). I frankly recall my mother accusing my Spanish teacher of going deaf, and my biology teacher announced himself as an extremeist christan and refused to teach evolution at the beginning of the year. They recieved a grant of 1000$, and used it to buy several widescreen TV's that they installed in the hallways. They're not even used. And they don't even have a yearbook anymore either. (submitted by student)

Posted: August 30, 2014

This charter school pays less than most of the other charter schools in the area. I've also heard their teachers are paid less than most of the other charter schools.

Posted: August 5, 2014

This will be our 5th year with Horizon Charter. We really love our ST, but the school itself is laughably - and frustratingly - unorganized a lot of the time. We do the 100% homeschooling program, so we are less affected by that than I suppose we would be if we utilized any of the core classes. I have never found a good reason to trust my children's core subjects to the Auburn site - I'll leave it at that. We have, in the past, utilized Friday enrichment classes there (which dwindle down every year - this year there is only one, and currently it shows as merely "tentative"), which were OK, though I must admit I was annoyed that the teachers offered my kids soda, candy, and/or other junk food every single week. My kids refused the soda upfront, but eventually I had to tell them to quit taking the candy as well. Heavy pressure to teach-to-the-test, even in the 100% Homeschooling program. We may quit soon. The school seems able to offer us less and less of anything educationally valuable or useful (there isn't a single enrichment class left for my youngest child, now a 4th grader, for the second year in a row). School gets worse every year, IMHO.

Posted: October 22, 2013

I have been going to Horizon since 7th grade and I am currently in 11th. The school is very laid back, and mostly all the kids in my class have always been close. This is a great school if you want your kid to feel comfortable and avoid getting bullied, but the education isn't the best. Everything has always been very easy, and when it comes to the state testing everyone always looks confused a bit. I enjoyed my time here and met some of the greatest people I wouldn't have met elsewhere. --a student

Posted: August 5, 2013

We love this school, this will be my fifth year. My children are educated at home and they attend the Friday classes at the Roseville site. My oldest daughter has special needs and their Special Education dept. is the best! She attends once a week: OT, speech and resource. The teachers and therapists are awesome. Received my curriculum early this year - I'm ready before school starts. Awesome school library - lots of support in however you choose to educate at home. My Supervising Teacher is wonderful, my kids love her.

Posted: June 17, 2013

We love this school. We have been a part of the home school programs and Lincoln Montessori, they both are excellent and have provided our children with a fantastic education. The staff at both are dedicated and caring; they live out personalized learning. The upper teachers at LMCC proved their commitment to us and I would highly recommend them. Parents need to step up and be part of a solution than a problem, both programs are built on parent involvement. Charter schools do not have all the bells and whistles of regular schools; if that is what you are looking for than don't look to charter schools. Thank you Horizon for giving us excellent choice and quality programs.

Posted: April 30, 2013

well after looking at all the other parent comments it sounds like its a different school. my daughter attends HCA Elk Grove. We have had some trouble with keeping a regular school administrator and teachers for the math classes. however, mrs Judith hayes has been a godsend. she is engaged, listens and has worked very hard to bringing the school up to par. I am satisfied and hope that there will still be an elk grove chapter by the time my daughter graduates. all the problems began with the previous administration. now the current admin has to clean up the mess left behind and sadly the children have to pay the price. hopefully next year things will start to calm down and smooth out. I for one am very happy!

Posted: February 21, 2013

My child attended a local public school and was left alone to go to the restroom and other places on the campus, the children at the public school were out of control and the Principle did nothing. After working with the staff at LMCC I found them to be extremely attentive to the children and concerned for the well being of them when speaking with the office and volunteering in the classrom as a parent. The Montessori Meathods need to be learned by parents to understand how the children learn in this self directed independent way. It has been a pleasure to have lower class size and freedom for my child to explore rather than be hearded lack cattle (children are given a number at public school) and my child is not sitting at a desk listening to teacher for six hours a day and being told to do one worksheet after another. Now she does PE and art projects and children are disciplined if they step out of line....Something I did not see at the local public school.

Posted: February 4, 2013

Not the best experience for our family. Just pulled our kids. Kids have a lot of time on their hands to finish boring worksheets and not engage. School constantly had outbreaks of head lice (and yes I know this happens everywhere) but it seemed that every month I got a notice about head lice, and it wasn't like that at other schools. My advice is keep looking around there has to be a better option.

Posted: February 4, 2013

I have had two experiences at Horizon with LMCC and homeschooling. First, when I went to enroll at the office on Nicholaus Road, the secretary seemed like it was the first time someone had asked to enroll in a school; it was very disorganized from the start. I chalked it up to her having a bad day. Then we took our kids to LMCC. There are two strong teachers, but the rest have the reputation (and we had the first-hand experience) of not being that great, or parents tolerate the weak teachers to get to the two good ones. I was in the classrooms, and it was overcrowded and cluttered. Only one teacher per class for a full class did not work out well. I thought Montessori had an assistant in every classroom, so a lot of kids are left on their own, unless they were misbehaving and got most of the attention. Not okay in our book so we went to homeschooling. I had a very hands-off type of supervising teacher so that was fine, but both LMCC and homeschooling lacked structure which may be fine for some families. Just not for us. The reputation of LMCC older grades and teacher is not very good; parents tend to pull their kids at some point.

Posted: February 3, 2013

Fantastic school that supports parental choice! The teachers are caring and passionate. We love the opportunities afforded to us by this school .

Posted: January 6, 2013

My daughter Attends Lincoln Montessori Community Co-op (LMCC) which is part of Horizon Charter Schools. She loves it and so do I. This is her second year and she has grown by leaps and bounds both academically and socially. The children learn at their own pace so that they are always challenged, but never overwhelmed. The principle, teachers, and other staff are all awesome from my experience. I've seen some of the other reviews on here and I notice that the poor ones are referring to the ALA program that closed down. I understand the anger and frustration that those families feel. I just hope that those reviews won't shed a negative light on LMCC because I would hate for anyone to miss out on such a great opportunity. It's basically like getting the benefits of a small private school without the cost since it's a charter. This school is one of the best things that has happened to our family. We started out at our local public school and there's just no comparison as far as I'm concerned.

Posted: January 2, 2013

I home-schooled with this organization for two years and was extremely happy. When the opportunity arouse to get my children in an exceptional site-based school they offered, I jumped at the chance. We were in love, until the administration completely failed us and closed the doors in an extremely questionable and unprofessional manner. The same leadership is in charge of the home-school program. They have taken no ownership in the situation and have destroyed the amazing experience for many children. I hope you do not choose this school on principal. I thoroughly expect for them to close the whole program at some point with no warning. I wouldn't be surprised if they attempt to re-open in another name. Research the leadership and make sure you don't sign up for any school they are associated with! Oh yeah, and remember this is your tax dollars they are abusing.

Posted: December 18, 2012

I have been an employee of Horizon Charter school since 1998. It is a great job to have. It is a wonderful school with caring teachers and staff. We have a variety of programs to educate your child. They receive a personalized education. Our 2 administrators at the present time have my full respect and appreciation. .

Posted: December 12, 2012

Lincoln Montessori (LMCC) is one of many Horizon programs. It is a wonderful, small school with the most approachable and kind principal I have ever met. She has been involved with the school since it's start over 13 years ago and making this school an excellent academic community is her top priority from my experience. The campus is very nice and so well-run. The secretary is amazingly well-organized and information distribution is great. Any students' need for more or less academic challenge can be accommodated because classrooms are generally multi-level. We are very fortunate to be a part of Lincoln Montessori!

Posted: December 4, 2012

CEO and administration only care about their paycheck and don't care about the students and teachers at all. My son didn't get math textbook until 5th week into session (and shut down at the end of 6th week). I heard some teachers purchased textbooks using their own credit cards because the administration won't provide. With 391 students with ADA funding, how is it possible not to have the textbooks ready for the students? I am sure the CEO and administrations were always paid on time while my son lost school site and most of his friends in the middle of school year. Don't believe the administration! They only want your money.

Posted: December 2, 2012

It is not surprising to me that the Accelerated Learning Academy has closed its doors. The leadership of the CEO as well as many of the administration has been horrendous. I feel horrible for the teachers, parents and students involved in this mess. I do, however, fail to understand why so many people would choose to remain at a sub-par school when we have so many excellent public schools in Placer County. Hopefully, the good that may come out of this is that some of the parents will try these schools and find out that the leadership and organization far exceeds anything that Horizon could ever offer. I made the mistake of enrolling my child last year, only to find that he was bullied there FAR MORE than at any public school that he had been enrolled in prior to attending ALA. The administration did not address our concerns and didn't seem to care that our son was being emotionally and physically bullied on a daily basis. So thankful that we used our brains and pulled him out before this huge mess began this school year. I will never recommend Horizon to anyone again. FYI- He is thriving and having a wonderful school year at our local public school :)

Posted: November 30, 2012

The Horizon administration is NOT to be trusted. They have abruptly shut down an extremely successful and beloved program, their Accelerated Learning Academy, with no clear justification. This despite great promises all last summer about expansion and new facilities. The teachers are amazing, the family commitment has been unstinting, but the administration has been intransigent. Make sure you Google Craig Heimbichner and Cynthia Verdugo Wood to see further questionable background on these two lead administrators before you waste any more time considering entrusting your child's education to them.

Posted: November 29, 2012

Something is REALLY wrong at this school--it is looking for profit at the cost of children. Be very careful--the administration is the problem--they do not think they need to communicate with parents, media, teachers, or students. They forget that they are a CA public school --taking CA money--there needs to be accountability and transparency.

Posted: November 28, 2012

At first this school and the Core Curriculum program were a dream come true. Then the CEO stepped in and ruined everything. Destroyed hundreds of kids educational lives and decimated a program that was stellar -- especially when based on ALA test scores. So sad greedy people had to come in and ruin what turned my son's education and motivation around. Will never attend any Horizon program ever again.

Posted: November 27, 2012

Disastrous bare covers it. The teachers and "Core Curriculum" taught at the school are first rate. It is clear that the teachers love their jobs and are committed to the students. The management & administration is bottom of the barrel. After misrepresenting student enrollment in lease and county permits, the school abruptly shuts down and blames it on the parent community. The same parent community that spent hundreds of hours seeking alternative solutions.

Posted: November 27, 2012

This school is VERY unstable. The administration, Craig Heimbichner and the board are impossible to work with and programs locations and solvency change monthly. Campuses are always shutting down leaving kids and families devastated. I honestly could not advise anyone to take the chance, even though we love the teachers, and they have been victims of this poor leadership too.

Posted: November 27, 2012

The Teachers are incredible and Core Knowledge curriculum was fantastic. Our children thrived at ALA, a program Horizon Charter Schools offered... until the CEO, CRAIG HEIMBICHNER closed it down leaving students, teachers and staff with no explanation, and with little hope in the middle of the school year! What a devestation to so many incredible families!! We will NEVER reccomend Horizon again. I have NEVER seen such poor leadership (if I would even call it leadership) displayed by the CEO...

Posted: November 27, 2012

Although the teachers and education at Horizon Charter (ALA) were amazing- the administration and way of handling business were horrible to say the least. Sadly, I would strongly discourage enrollment with Horizon. We were repeatedly disappointed with the lack of professionalism, communication and consideration for the families and children.

Posted: November 27, 2012

A solid teaching staff and an involved passionate group of parents normally would guarantee a child the best learning environment. Unfortunately, the administration of Horizon Charter School ruined what could have been the most amazing year for my children. With the abrupt closing of the ALA program, we are now left to scramble for another school mid year. I do not recommend this school to anyone. The people in charge of this school do not care about the kids. Save yourselves the heartache and look elsewhere.

Posted: November 27, 2012

I couldn't recommend this school/program to anyone. Our experience with the Horizon Charter ALA's administration was nothing short of disastrous. The administration shut down 3 schools in 1 school year crushing hundreds of students and families. The teachers were amazing, and curriculum was incredible. The administration shoots from the hip without considering ramifications, and unfortunately the teachers and students paid the price. The CEO's character is deeply within question, specifically in regards to honesty, and transparency. There is little communication that transpires from the top ranks to the actual real life school operations that happen every day. (Unless of course you have been given 48-72 hours notice that your school is closing.) The things that transpired this year are unimaginable. Please don't put your kids anywhere near this CEO or his administration. If you are looking at schools, look up at the chain of command, not just the teachers. The teachers can be amazing but if leadership is poor, than everyone looses.

Posted: November 26, 2012

Run far and run fast. Not a good program or experience for our family. Our children are very bright and I felt that a certain program in Horizon met our expectations, but the administration and leadership lacked sorely. The teachers were the best around, but they are not around anymore and have found jobs elseware. Please go to a different program; there are so many high-quality programs around. Horizon will disappoint.

Posted: October 13, 2011

I went to Horizon for my middle school years (sixth, seventh, and eighth). I did a regular four day a week program at the center in Roseville, and then on Fridays would homeschool. I liked the school because instead of kids everywhere there was only around 30-35 kids in one grade instead of these huge middle schools! You didn't have to waste any time doing things that most other middle schools do like P.E. Because it was so small we even got field trips like elementary school! There is zero pressure to do anything here than at public schools. I loved Fridays because occassionally if I finished my work early Friday was a free day, so sometimes I even got three day weekends! However, I suppose I took a star off because Horizon can get nerdy and you can miss not having a regular school environment, plus, since the center in Roseville is located in a buisness park, I never quite got used to seeing buisness people when I had to walk between buildings.

Posted: September 26, 2011

First street lincoln montessori community co-op(AKA: LMCC) has the worst communication I have ever seen in my life. We don't find out about half of the events that go on until the day of or day before despite the fact that there are 3 school calendars(school year, snack, event). They rely on no less than $100 worth of school supply donations per child/year. They expect every parent to donate 10 hours of time per month in some way shape or form. My student comes home with a bunch of homework with no indication of when it is due.

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