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Schools

Oxford Charter School Open Enrollment Starts Monday

Families who want a spot this fall at the new school, approved by the CUSD school board in March, must apply by May 10. Meanwhile, school officials are still looking for a home.

Oxford Preparatory Academy – the newly-approved charter school opening this fall in the Capistrano Unified School District – has announced that it will accept enrollment applications from April 11 to May 10.

The K-8 charter school does not yet have a final home for next fall, co-founder and Director of Educational Services Jason Watts said Thursday. But it will begin accepting applications for 528 on-site and 100 independent study spots as specified in its charter, which was approved by the school board in March.

“We have an excess of a thousand plus families that have expressed interest,” Watts said, so school officials are anticipating a strong enrollment turnout. The tuition-free public school is open to all students, though residents who live within CUSD’s boundaries will be given admission priority. If applications exceed capacity, a lottery system will be used to assign spaces, Watts said.

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“It’s our goal that we could have a facility that we could announce prior to a lottery,” he said. “We’re working as fast as we can on it, but still trying to be prudent.”

Oxford has been offered space by the district as required by Prop. 39, but that location is a split campus in Aliso Viejo separated by five miles, which include a total of 16 classrooms. Watts said charter officials have been visiting other locations within the district boundaries, and hope to finalize a school site soon.

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Watts said the school is hoping to enroll students in every grade level from K-8, with two classes per grade. A lottery system will be used on a per grade level basis.

Oxford Preparatory Academy is a collegiate-themed school designed to teach children based on “multiple intelligences,” a theory developed by Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner that children learn in eight different ways. Traditional education focuses too narrowly on logical and linguistic learning, Gardner argued, while overlooking other intelligences such as spatial, musical and kinesthetic.

Oxford opened a K-8 campus in Chino last September, with some 1,700 families applying for spots in the 950 student school, Watts said.

Prior to launching Oxford, founder Sue Roche worked in the Chino Valley Unified School District for 29 years, where she served as principal of an elementary school which had the highest test scores in San Bernardino County.

Roche will be the main speaker at pre-enrollment information meetings scheduled in April, Watts said. Families who want to apply must attend at least one meeting and submit a complete enrollment packet by May 10. Oxford’s admissions materials are available on its website in English and Spanish.

The Pre-Enrollment Information Meetings have been scheduled as follows:

  • Monday, April 11: 4:30- 6:30 pm at Kinoshita Elementary in San Juan Capistrano
  • Wednesday, April 13: 5 – 7 pm at Wood Canyon Elementary in Aliso Viejo
  • Wednesday, April 20: 12pm – 2 pm at Temple Beth El in Aliso Viejo
  • Tuesday, April 26 from 7 pm – 9 pm at Clarence Lobo Elementary in San Clemente
  • Saturday, April 30 from 10 am to 12 pm at Church of Christ in Mission Viejo

Enrollment applications will be accepted at all locations except Clarence Lobo following the information meeting.

Watts said that more enrollment dates will be announced. Anyone who needs more information can go online to www.oxfordchampions.com.

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