YouthBuild Charter School of California (YCSC) holds a unique place in the landscape of California’s public charter schools. As a competency-based dropout recovery school, it seeks to provide a high school education that leads to a diploma for a distinct group of students. YCSC students, who are all between the ages of 16 to 24 years old, come from low-income families and underserved communities, and have previously left or been pushed out of the traditional school system without a diploma. They enroll at YouthBuild programs over-aged, under-credited, or both, in order to receive vocational training, counseling, leadership development and an education. In order to meet the unique needs of its students, YouthBuild Charter School of California uses a project-based, inter-disciplinary curriculum model that relies on authentic assessments and applied learning. Students are empowered to take what they learn in the classroom into their communities to promote social justice through volunteerism and advocacy. The mission of YouthBuild Charter School is to cultivate collaborative learning communities in which every student has the right to an authentic education, plays a meaningful role in creating positive social change, and becomes an active participant in working towards just conditions for all.
