New Santa Ana | Tag Archives: charter schools

Charter Schools Association endorses Dr. Rodriguez for the SAUSD School Board

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in 2014 Elections, Education, Politics, Rigo Rodriguez, Santa Ana, SAUSD Leave a comment

Riboberto Rodriguez

PRESS RELEASE: October 6, 2014
Contact: Steve Levin, slevin@ccsaadvocates.org, (310) 409-7755

CCSA Advocates Endorses Dr. Rigo Rodriguez for Santa Ana Unified School Board

The teacher and community advocate will fight for students

Los Angeles – CCSA Advocates is pleased to announce its endorsement of Dr. Rigoberto (Rigo) Rodriguez for the Santa Ana Unified School District Governing Board. An experienced teacher, small business owner and respected community advocate, Dr. Rodriguez will work to ensure that every Santa Ana student receives a high-quality education.

“We enthusiastically endorse Dr. Rodriguez for the Santa Ana Unified school board,” said Gary Borden, Executive Director of CCSA Advocates. “Dr. Rodriguez has proven himself to be a visionary and collaborative community leader. He understands the complex challenges facing Santa Ana schools. As a school board member, he will put students first and work tirelessly for access to high-quality educational options for all families.” Continue reading→

U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez goes after charter schools with H.R. 10

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Art Pedroza Posted in Education, Loretta Sanchez, Politics, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, Representing California’s 46th Congressional District

STATEMENT, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 9, 2014
MEDIA CONTACT: Barb Solish, 202-226-8373, Barb.Solish@mail.house.gov

REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ’S AMENDMENT TO STRENGTHEN CHARTER SCHOOLS WITH COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT PASSES

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (CA-46) today spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives in support of her amendment to H.R. 10, the Success and Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools Act. The amendment was adopted and H.R. 10 was subsequently passed. Rep. Sanchez’s amendment will require state entities to report how charter school programs encourage community involvement in the planning and opening of additional charter schools. Below are her transcribed remarks and a link to the video.

Watch the speech by clicking here. Continue reading→

Students at the Olive Crest NOVA charter school earn college credits

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Charter Schools, Education, Santa Ana Leave a comment

NOVA Students

Editor’s Note: This is the second in our series of articles about charter schools in Santa Ana.

The Olive Crest NOVA charter school works in partnership with Olive Crest, Santa Ana Unified School District and Santa Ana College (SAC), which means that the Olive Crest Academy students receive both high school and college credits. NOVA is one of 60 schools awarded by the US News and World Report to receive the 2010 Bronze Medal for the Best High Schools in California.

There are many exciting new additions in the NOVA instructional program for the 2012-2013 school year, including: Continue reading→

Is it time to take our kids out of the SAUSD’s public schools?

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Art Pedroza Posted in Education, Santa Ana, SAUSD 5 Comments

SAUSD poor performing schools

Never mind the problems at Spurgeon Intermediate. The situation at the SAUSD is much worse. An inside soruce tells me that there was a meeting this week for parents of elementary schoolchildren. The district wanted to inform the parents that they will be getting rid of Honors classes. Students will either have to be in AP classes or in standard classes that will throw everyone in one room, from those achieving at the elementary level to those who would normally be in Honors classes. And this is coming our way in middle school as well.

I have supported SAUSD Superintendent Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, since she arrived here in Santa Ana, however she seems to be perfectly willing to turn low income kids into guinea pigs for every whim in education that suits her own political and/or egotistical purposes. Continue reading→

Governor signs new bill extending free speech rights to charter school students

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in california, Civil Rights, Education, Santa Ana, Youth Activities Leave a comment

Advocates for free speech notched another victory this week when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that will give students at charter schools the same free speech protection that their counterparts in regular public schools enjoy.

What happened, in a nutshell, is that a State Assemblyman, Leland Yee, had to step in with new legislation when a local charter school, the Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA), here in the Santa Ana Unified School District, stopped a press run of their student newspaper, in an obvious attempt to abridge the free speech rights of a student reporter. The same school later fired their journalism advisor because she stood up for that student’s rights.

Yee was so mad after that happened that he asked the SAUSD to cancel OCHSA’s charter, but the SAUSD School Board ignored his request. That was no surprise given that SAUSD School Board President Audrey Yamagata-Noji is no defender of the First Amendment herself. She recently suspended a college student at Mt. San Antonio College, where she is the Vice President of Student Services, for daring to Tweet about a teacher – without even mentioning said teacher’s name!

Here are all the details, courtesy of the California Chronicle:

Click here to read the rest of this post.

An introduction to Santa Ana’s private and charter schools

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Art Pedroza Posted in Churches and Religion, Education, Santa Ana, Youth Activities 7 Comments

A reader asked us to compile a list of Santa Ana’s private schools. But let’s start with Santa Ana’s charter schools, which are publicly funded but are run independently.

The Santa Ana Unified School District’s website does include a list of the local charter schools, which include:

Albor Charter School – This is a K-12 school that appears to offer instruction in a bilingual format. They don’t have a website and it is almost impossible to find out much about them online. I did find news articles that indicated that a former director allegedly misappropriated millions of public dollars back in 2007. Phone: 714-560-1568.
The Orange County Educational Arts Academy – K-8. They offer English only and Two-way Language Immersion (Spanish/English).
The Edward B. Cole Academy – K-5. They don’t have a website. I did find a letter they submitted to the City of Santa Ana where they indicated that they serve poor families with English fluency issues. Continue reading→

Nova Academy’s 2009 Career Day featured Assemblyman Jose Solorio

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Art Pedroza Posted in Education, Jose Solorio, Santa Ana, Youth Activities Leave a comment

Eastman and Solorio

Dennis Eastman, Nova Academy principal and Assemblyman Jose Solorio

Santa Ana’s Nova Academy held a very successful Career Day on Oct. 27. Assemblyman Jose Solorio stopped by to make opening remarks. Then the students heard from numerous professionals in breakout sessions leading up to lunch.

Nova’s students are on a dual educational path that includes both college and high school simultaneously. The idea behind their Career Day was to help them to prepare a career by listening, first hand, to individuals with experience in that career field.

Speakers included doctors, lawyers, a forensic lab specialist, and other area professionals. Below are a few pictures from the event: Continue reading→