FAQs

We are not a traditional public, private, or charter school; we offer a distinct and independent drop-off program aimed to nurture creativity and artistic growth while enhancing academic excellence. Our core programs run for 30 weeks, from September through to May.

Your student can take one, two or all three of the programs we offer!

Through our innovative approach, we seamlessly integrate hands-on application into every subject, cultivating a dynamic and enriching educational environment for children from TK/Kindergarten through 8th Grade.

We offer three distinct programs: Foundations Day, Thinker Day, and Doer Day.

Foundations Day is currently offered on Mondays. Students will focus on Math, Reading Skills, Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing, and Spelling.

Thinker Day is currently offered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You may select either Tuesday OR Wednesday to attend Thinker Day depending on your preference and our availability. On Thinker Day, students will focus on History with Art, Reading, Literature, Geography, Science, and Fine Arts. In this program, students receive a blank sketchbook on their first day of class to showcase all the artwork they create throughout the year. By the end of the academic year, your student will have written and illustrated a book with 30 chapters that highlights the history tied with the year's theme.

Doer Day is currently offered on Thursdays and Fridays. You may select either Thursday OR Friday to attend Doer Day depending on your preference and our availability. On Doer Day, students will focus on Theater, Entrepreneurship, and two additional classes that are subject to change each year. Theater makes up half of the Doer Day program, with three rotating Theater classes in the Fall, which combine and transition into rehearsal time in the Spring. Just before the Spring Semester begins, your student will audition for a junior production of a musical theater show selected by the Terra Arts team. Your student will be assigned to a cast based on their grade level and have the opportunity to perform their junior production during two weekends in May. For reference, we have done productions like Singin' in the Rain Jr., The Lion King Jr., and Beauty and the Beast Jr.

For Doer Day specifically, Kindergarten through 2nd Grade are included in our junior theater productions as "The Choir," this means they come out three times during their scheduled theater shows and sing three songs.

We are a drop-off program that begins at 8:30am and concludes promptly at 2:00pm for each program we offer. Each day includes a scheduled snack and lunch break under the supervision of the Terra Arts staff.

All families are responsible for ensuring their student has a backpack, water bottle, and packed lunch for their program day.

If your student has special needs or is not able to be self-governing when they’re left with us, either for our Foundations, Thinker or Doer Day drop-off programs or any Afternoon Course, you must stay with your child or provide an appropriate aid.

Please inform us before the first day of class that your child may need more help than the average student. If you have not informed us of their unique requirements, we will call you to come back and get your student.

Terra Arts requires ALL teachers and staff members to get a Department of Justice background check in order to be on site. Our campus is currently located at a working church, and the church staff have a Department of Justice clearance in order to be on campus during our operating hours.

The Terra Arts campus is gated and has a security guard who keeps any and all strangers off campus during class hours.

Yes. Terra Arts does accept charter funds. We currently have students from the following charters (in alphabetical order):

Blue Ridge Academy
Cabrillo Point Academy
Compass Charter Schools
Epic Charter School
Excel Academy
Granite Mountain Charter School
iLead Hybrid Learning Studios
Mission Vista Academy
Pacific Coast Academy
Sage Oak Charter School
Scale Academy
Sky Mountain Charter School
Springs Charter School
Suncoast Preparatory Academy

If you don't see your charter listed, contact us via our CONTACT page.

The registration fee holds your spot in class. This fee is not usually covered by your instructional funds from your charter school, but we encourage you to check with your charter if you plan to use charter funds to pay for any of our programs.

If you do not register through our site and pay the registration fee, you will surprise the teacher on the first day of class, and the course may be sold out. If you submit a purchase order from your charter without communicating with us, your spot is not guaranteed as the purchase order does not give us any contact information for you, tell us specifically which class you wanted, or include the signed Terms and Conditions document.

The fee also allows potential students to consider which courses they need carefully, prevents spots from being held unnecessarily, and gives the teachers an accurate head count of their students to center their lessons around.

The registration fee is separate from the year's posted tuition costs.

In order to use charter funds for our program, you must first enroll in our program through our website OR communicate with us via email from our CONTACT page if your charter is paying for the registration fee as well as the program. Once enrolled, you are responsible for submitting your purchase orders. Terra Arts Academy will not handle matters concerning obtaining purchase orders. You must ask your Education Specialist or Facilitator to provide a purchase order. Please register on our website and confirm your place on the roll sheet BEFORE you submit any purchase orders. Purchase orders will NOT be accepted if you are not enrolled.

If your charter does not cover your tuition costs in full, you are financially responsible for any remaining balances. All of our financial agreements are made with you, NOT with your charter.

Yes! We do allow enrollment mid academic year depending on availability.

If you enroll mid academic year, you are financially responsible for all program fees starting from the date you register through our website.

For families enrolling mid academic year, billing will begin on the date you register. For example, if you enroll in January but do not plan to attend until March, please note you will be financially responsible for all program fees starting in January, as if you began attending in January.

A purchase order is not a payment, it is a promise to pay. The actual payments are the ones noted on the invoice you will receive from us monthly. A charter school typically runs late in payment, up to 45 days after instruction. That means that we are still owed the money even though we have a purchase order from you. The purchase order is not cash. We teach your student first. We bill your charter monthly after the instruction for each student.

If the charter does not keep their promise, then you will owe for the instruction your student has received.

Our bookkeeper will send you an invoice every month so you can see if your charter is paying or not. That way it will not be a surprise to anyone if their charter is not paying. This is our system.

We trust that the charter will keep their promise to us (a purchase order is only a promise) and so we pay for your student’s instruction in advance trusting that they will pay us back.

Yes! You guessed correctly. This is a lot of extra work and expense for us to use the charter school purchase order system. Our teachers typically do not get paid until November of the school year. We have to finance rent, insurance, art supplies and a lot of other things until they pay. We use your registration fees to pay our web developer so you can get the information you need to register for classes and to get homework assignments and other information. We are actually partnering with you and paying for your student’s education and trusting to get paid back.

We really need you to stay on top of getting us the purchase orders.

We're excited to have you join our community. Here's some vital information to get you prepared for success!

ASSIGNMENTS:
The Prep Work Book will be posted on the website and can be accessed with a password we will provide to all enrolled families.

SICKNESS POLICY:
We ask that you do not come to campus sick.

LUNCH INFORMATION:
We are a NUT/SEED FREE Campus. No sharing of food. No food or candy treats can be shared with other students.

DROP-OFF PROCEDURE:
School drop-off and pick-ups are at the WEST gate only.

REQUIRED FORMS:
Please print and sign ALL the required forms here and scan them back to invoicing@terraarts.org. Or bring them to the first day of class.

https://terraarts.org/about-us/required-forms/

MEDICAL EMERGENCY LIABILITY WAIVER: found on the website. Please print, scan, and forward to us.

CHARTER FUNDS:
Once your charter opens up, please submit your PO right away! We need your PO before the first day of school.

MOVE DAYS & DROP POLICY:
We charge a $20 move-your-day fee per child.

Drop Policy

You may only drop the class if you have withdrawn from your charter and are no longer homeschooling. You are responsible for your student's balance whether or not they attend.

We will not hold a spot in any class for your student.

Hold your spot fee is not part of your class fee.

You can not hold a spot in any class for your student unless the non-refundable registration fee was paid during registration. We do not accept charter funds for the registration fee.

Hold your spot fee is not part of your class fee.

Contact invoicing@terraarts.org for more information.

SOCIAL MEDIA:
WE LOVE TO SEE YOUR STUDENTS TAGGED ON HERE!!

Terra Arts Instagram Account:
https://www.instagram.com/terraarts/?hl=en
@terraarts

Private FB Group-
-Please answer admin questions to be approved.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/terraarts.org/?multi_permalinks=4045768178820105¬if_id=1611955874598549¬if_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif

SCHOOL PHONE NUMBER:
(714) 620-9377
admin@terraarts.org

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE:
invoicing@terraarts.org

CONTACT INFORMATION:
CEO: Kim Frassett
kimfrassett@terraarts.org

Director of Operations: Jayme Frassett
jaymefrassett@terraarts.org

Thank you! We are looking forward to YOUR SUCCESS as a homeschool family!

Let us know if you have any questions or concerns!

Enrollment in the Foundations, Thinker, or Doer Day Program at Terra Arts is a year-long commitment, spanning 30 weeks from September through to May of the academic year.

Families are responsible for paying the full balance for the academic year regardless of attendance if a withdrawal occurs after the July 1st drop date, unless your student falls into one of the following categories:

Your student is being enrolled in a public or private school and/or homeschooling is completely discontinued.
Your student has a serious medical condition that prevents attendance.
Your family is moving more than 50 miles from Terra Arts.

If you fall into any of the above categories, you must provide supporting documentation of these changes to Terra Arts. In this case, you are only responsible for paying for the next 30 days of classes. After which, you would no longer be financially responsible for the remainder of the academic year.

For Afternoon Courses, families are required to pay by the semester of enrollment. Withdrawals are only allowed at the end of the first semester. In this case, you are only responsible for paying for the first semester. After which, if a withdrawal occurs mid-semester, families will still be financially responsible for the full semester's fees.

If you enroll mid-year, you must agree to the terms of this withdrawal policy, which will apply starting from the date you register for the current academic year. You will also be financially responsible for all program fees starting from the date of registration through our website.

For families enrolling mid-year, billing will begin on the date you register. For example, if you enroll in January but do not plan to attend until March, please note you will be financially responsible for all program fees starting in January, as if you began attending in January.

TERRA ARTS CLASSROOM VISITATION POLICY
Our enrollment is limited on Mondays so that we can accommodate parents as Educational Aides. Please follow our visitor policies. We have opportunities for you in all grades.

If your student has been disruptive in any other class or day, we might have requested that you attend as a Behavior Chaperone. Your goal is to help your students understand expected classroom behavior.

These visitor policies apply in both situations. We welcome parent and community involvement at Terra Arts. We are not a public or private school, so our rules will differ from those you might be familiar with.

Submit your request to be a Monday Educational Aide in writing. Because the main purpose of our program is to provide education to all students, limiting classroom visitors is one way in which we carefully strive to maintain student privacy. Our policy states, "No person shall visit or audit a classroom or other school activity, nor shall any person remain on our premises without the advance approval of the Director or authorized representative.”
Under the law, learning centers are not considered open to the public or a public forum, such as a public park or sidewalk. Instead, we are considered a “limited public forum” and may limit public access per reasonable regulations.
Visitors must sign in and out daily and wear an identifying visitor name badge on campus.
Terra Arts prohibits photographs from being taken by visitors on Terra Arts premises, particularly of students, without prior authorization.
Campus administrators have legal support in responding if a disruption to the educational program or campus operations occurs. The California Constitution requires all learning environments to ensure a safe, secure, and peaceful environment for students and employees.
Should a disruption occur, the Director can demand that the disruptive party stop the behavior and/or leave the campus. If the disruptive party fails to leave the campus at the direction of the Director, the Director may contact law enforcement, and the disruptive party may face criminal charges.
While sitting with your student or in the back of the classroom, we ask that you refrain from answering the teacher's questions and from engaging the teacher in private conversation.
Do not converse with the student or other adults while the class is in session, whether in person or on your phone.
Please inform our Director if your student has any special needs. We will keep this information confidential within our staff and only use it to accommodate your students if possible.
Do not correct your students, do their work for them, nor take the writing or art materials from their hands to do it correctly yourself. Do not write on their work.
You may use a separate sheet of paper to draw or write an example of your own that your student may copy.
Be an excellent example to all with your kind, respectful attitude.
You may not bring any unenrolled students when you come to assist your student.
No student at Terra Arts is allowed to opt out of any classroom activity. Inclusion and participation are required. The classroom rules apply even if you might have different expectations at home.
With these exceptions: “We will accommodate students who need to step out of the class if the sounds or smells are distressing them, and we have a few students who may opt out of physical activity at times. Additionally, We know that several students will ask to refrain from doing animal dissections, and we will allow them to refrain from participating on those days (We plan to have an alternate worksheet or project for them to work on).
Non-staff adults are not allowed to enter student restrooms except for a parent assisting their preschool student. Please do not allow your student to use the adult restroom.
We appreciate and support you in your effort to provide an excellent education for all students. Please communicate with us privately if you have any questions or concerns.

Last Updated 9/19/23

Home Schooled from Preschool to LIFE. An honorary degree we confer upon our own Homeschool Graduates who have also completed an intensive 4-year Internship in Leadership at Terra Arts.

How to Abandon the System

There’s one question that nags thousands, if not millions, of high school and college students every year: What do I want to do with my life? Sadly, many of these young men and women graduate from college still asking themselves that question. Oddly enough, the average young person in the U.S. often earns a degree and begins looking for a job in a career field in which he has no experience—not even knowing if he’ll enjoy the job or not.

There’s a simple solution to this age-old dilemma: real life internships. These days, an internship is an easy way to find out if a student’s interest in a particular career will last through the initial aura of wanting the job and into the stark reality of what the job entails on a day-to-day basis. When a student works as an intern for three or four months, he or she is provided with a cost-effective means to thoroughly and objectively evaluate a particular job. As the individual observes both the glamour and the mundanity of the job, he or she is far better equipped to decide if a career in that field should be pursued.

Instead of conforming to a grade-segregated system that teaches children what to think but leaves them unprepared for real life, break out of the box. Give your children a leg up on life (or a huge head start) by preparing them for the real world through a study/work environment unlike the artificial scenario found on many of today’s college campuses. Your kids will be challenged to learn how to ponder the deeper issues of life, they will mature intellectually, and they’ll love you for giving them a shot at taking on the responsibilities of everyday adult life.

Copyright 2008, The Old Schoolhouse®. Used with permission. All rights reserved by the Author. Originally appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, the trade publication for homeschool moms.