Education is important to the community of Apple Valley. Our outstanding school system has grown from a one-room schoolhouse to a high-tech educational system, thanks to Apple Valley residents who take a great interest in their schools. Apple Valley’s education system shines with nationally-recognized private and public educational institutions.
The Apple Valley Unified School District offers outstanding educational opportunities to its students through a wide range of programs. The district serves just over 13,000 students ranging from preschool through 12th grade and offers an adult education program linked with Victor Valley College. For more information, visit www.avusd.org.
The Lewis Center for Educational Research has been called “one of the most interesting, unique, and unusual” education institutions in the nation. The school is known for its relationship with NASA and the Goldstone-Apple Valley Radio Telescope program.
Among the Lewis Center’s most significant programs are:
• The Academy for Academic Excellence, a K-12 charter school in which new teaching techniques and strategies are tested and refined in a standards-based educational program. The campus sits on 150 acres of Mojave river wildlands, and the campus itself is an outdoor laboratory where students study ecology and wildlife.
• The Norton Space and Aeronautics Academy, a K-8 charter school, is a Dual Immersion Program School with the goal of all students being able to speak, read and write in English and Spanish in all academic areas after five years in the program.
• The Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope project with NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory gives teachers nationwide access via the internet, using a 34-meter radio antenna that was part of NASA’s Deep Space Network.
• The Local Outreach Educational Program is committed to extending the classroom to the community and beyond with local science and social studies programs, which align with the State of California Board of Education content standards.
• Additionally, the Lewis Center has programs in archaeology, California Gold Rush history, the solar system, solar energy and meteorology, as well as monthly observatory viewing at the optical observatory on the original campus. For more information, visit www.lewiscenter.org.
Other private K-12 schools in the area include Apple Valley Christian School.
Higher education is available through Victor Valley College, University of Redlands, California Baptist University, Azusa Pacific University, University of La Verne, Brandman University and California State University, San Bernardino.
Victor Valley College’s three divisions of academic focus are: health science/public safety/industrial technology; humanities, arts and social sciences; and Science, technology, engineering and math. The college at 18422 Bear Valley Rd., Victorville, offers a wide assortment of off-campus locations and online classes for convenience. For more information, visit www.vvc.edu.