Silver State High School's growth, achievement comes after journey

Six years ago no one could have told me that Silver State High School would be changing its name to Silver State Charter Schools and incorporating seventh and eighth grades into our program.

The journey to this juncture has been more than I could have ever hoped for. In August 2003, the Nevada State School Board held a special meeting and approved the charter for Silver State High School. We were the first state-sponsored charter school after being turned down for sponsorship by the Carson City School Board.

We went from absolutely nothing to opening in 23 days with five staff members, me and 143 eager risk-takers. Those were hectic times. What we had going for us was a vision, a philosophy and some really dedicated and visionary people.

We are governed by our own school board. This is a group of people willing to think out of the box, who bought into a very new idea - distance education.

From there we have grown steadily in student numbers as well as an excellent reputation. We have met and exceeded every goal a school is held accountable for. We received our Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS) accreditation in 2006 and last year made High Achieving under No Child Left Behind mandates. Recently the state school board commended us on a job well done.

But that wasn't enough. Parents, for a few years, have been asking for a middle school program. I thought, "We did it once, we can do it again. It will be easier this time, we all know what we are doing."

Ignorance is bliss. It wasn't easier, but we got it done. The 2009-2010 school year has begun with the addition of the seventh and eighth grades. Students are arriving every day. They and their parents are excited about this new model of education. I never dreamed that we could be offering a choice in education to so many people who are so appreciative of our method and our success.

With not enough sense to say "enough is enough," my staff, board and I are looking forward to building a new Silver State Charter School facility soon. This will be a state-of-the-art, highly technical facility that will make the Silver State family proud.

As the founder I look back at all the hurdles big and small and wonder how we did it. I also look at all the hurdles yet to come, seen and unseen and think, we can do this together, we have before and we will again.

• Steve Knight, M.Ed., is superintendent and principal of Silver State Charter Schools.