TRUCKEE, Calif. — Custom Learning Academy provides the academic foundation for students in Kindergarten through 12th grade to pursue personal enrichment experiences and goals while being given an opportunity to excel in academic endeavors.

Our program also includes an emotional intelligence elective for all grades weekly, in addition to college prep academics for grades 6-12.

High school students at CLA have 22 Advanced Placement subject options. Students entering middle school have the option to take courses for high school credit.

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“Students achieve academic success because of the extensive and immediate feedback, along with the small class sizes with our 10-to-1 student-teacher ratio,” said Mike Wyreman, elementary staff member since 2007.

In addition to our customized learning options, students entering grades K-11 complete the Iowa Test of Basic Skills to determine individual grade skill levels each May for our end-of-the-year testing.

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The Iowa Test has been administered across the United States since 1935; it represents a “ snapshot” of a student’s performance at a specific time and gives the student a national percentile ranking.

At CLA, we review the individual scores to plan student placement or remediation. We also review scores to improve our curriculum and increase group performance as a whole.

Our ITBS test results from 2013-14 show that CLA students academically excelled in their age appropriate grade level. A report of these score results can be found on the school website, customlearning.org.

Our students have typically scored on the highest academic scale of their class year or test at a grade above in various or all subjects for the last six years.

“My son Cedar had the opportunity to take classes that he would not otherwise have had the chance to take as a ninth grader in a public school,” said CLA mom Jaspen Amodeo.

Cedar took AP Psychology and passed the AP exam in May, which earned him college credit. His math and reading skills were lacking at the start of the 2013 school year, Amodeo said, but increased dramatically by spring of 2014, and then Cedar scored above average in spring on the ITBS test.

Julia Cashell, a 2014 graduate, had the ultimate custom schedule with five AP classes that stopped and started around her ski race training and competitions.

Her father, Rob Cashell, said, “CLA made it possible for Julia to pursue such high academic goals along with her commitments to ski racing.”

CLA offers courses for credit, one-on-one tutoring, and has open enrollment year-round for K-12 full-time school, and classes can be conducted via Skype upon request.

Reva Brandt is an English teacher and Nordic club coach at Custom Learning Academy, a nonprofit private K-12 school located at 12710 Northwoods Blvd. in Truckee. Call 530-587-5470 or visit customlearning.org for more information.