Inland Leaders is being developed as an innovative and progressive alternative for students in the Inland Empire of southern California. It was born out of a desire to provide for students seeking alternatives to traditional public schools, create a model for standards-based classrooms, incorporate character education, and implement innovative strategies to improve student performance. The school is currently being developed with the participation of school administrators, college professors, parents, and community members from the Redlands, Beaumont, Yucaipa, Loma Linda and Calimesa cities with a variety of ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds.
ILCS is based on the conviction that families need to be an integral part of the education of their children. Conversations with a variety of parent groups revealed that a significant number of Inland Empire families had chosen to home school or enroll their children in private schools so they could be more involved in their children's education. Therefore, Inland Leaders is dedicated to reuniting the diverse community of parents, teachers, businesses, and others to participate in the privilege of educating students in a high quality school environment.
The founding members of the charter agree on four foundational tenants that form the core of ILCS: a shorter school day without the loss of instructional time, the PACE differentiation program, small class sizes, and student leadership training. The school will be a site-based kindergarten through sixth grade elementary school operating within the required instructional minutes of the state. Students will forego traditional breaks in return for a shorter school day (8:15 AM to 1:03 PM). Students will return to their families earlier, allowing for greater flexibility in their day. Children will be given opportunities to attend community electives after school that will consist of enrichment and remediation classes. A shorter school day is positive for children because it increases time for family, increases time available for teacher collaboration, maximizes time after school for enrichment and intervention programs, reduces disciplinary issues, increases time for staff development and administrative tasks, and provides additional instruction time to students in need of support. According to Robert Marzano the ability to capture more time on a school level is one of the greatest factors for student success (Marzano, What Works in Schools).
The second core component is the differentiation program entitled PACE or Pupil Acceleration for Continued Excellence. This program will allow for flexible groupings that will assist teachers and students in differentiation and acceleration of curriculum. Students will be grouped based on their achievement levels and will accelerate through the standards at their own pace.
Recent research has concluded that smaller schools educate students more successfully. ILCS will keep class sizes small to allow for greater success.
ILCS recognizes that students need to be prepared and equipped with skills and qualities beyond academics; therefore we will integrate leadership training into the curriculum to emphasize the five core values of the school: honesty, teamwork, kindness, responsibility and respect. Students of all ages will be required to complete a public service project to improve our community in a practical manner. Special needs programs such as ELL, Title 1, GATE and special education will all be provided and teachers will receive training to support the special needs of all students. | 
