Homegrown Learning

By David Hill

Betsy Abrams steers her six-year-old Toyota Corolla through the town of North San Juan on her way to pay a visit to the Pryor family. Turning off the main highway onto a narrow dirt driveway, she carefully maneuvers the car over and around a series of large, muddy potholes. "This isn't too bad compared with some roads that I've been on,'' she says. "At least it's not very long.''

Abrams has put a lot of miles on her Corolla since she became head teacher of the Twin Ridges Home Study Program. Founded nearly 20 years ago in this Northern California town, about 15 miles from Nevada City, it is one of the few programs in the country that combines homeschooling with regular classroom instruction. On Mondays and Fridays, the 40 or so students enrolled in the K-8 program stay at home with their parents. But on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, they have the option of attending classes at a one-room schoolhouse on the campus of Oak Tree Elementary School.

It's an arrangement that many school administrators, particularly those who see homeschooling as a threat to public education, might reject outright. But for the Twin Ridges Elementary School District, the home study program is a can't-lose proposition. That's because most of the students who participate would probably not be in school at all if the program did not exist. By accommodating them, however, the district is able to collect the same amount of per-pupil revenues--about $5,000--as it does for conventional students. That means the home study program not only pays for itself, but it also brings in funds that can be spent elsewhere in the 450-student district. "It's a win-win deal,''...