Two Schools, One Campus for First Time

Two schools–a long-established, award-winning elementary and a brand new K-8 charter–began learning to share one Mission Viejo campus Wednesday.

Much to the chagrin of , the Capistrano Unified School District’s Board of Trustees voted in June to offer space to Oxford Preparatory Academy at .

Since then, Barcelona Hills families have left in droves. Principal Kathy Kirtz said current enrollment is about 240 students, down about 200 from June.

Still, with the two schools starting 20 minutes apart, the first day of school went smoothly, Kirtz said.

“We had a fantastic first day of school,” she said. “I should knock on wood.”

Kirtz said administrators from the two schools have worked “in the spirit of cooperation” to set up their programs so that their schedules don’t conflict.

An Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputy was on hand in the parking lot to handle potential traffic issues, but he didn’t see any.

“It was a typical first day of school, parents dropping their kids off at school,” said Deputy K. Lybrand. “Other than that, it wasn’t too bad.”

Barcelona Hills directs their students through the school’s main entrance, while Oxford, which has classrooms on either side of the campus, has their teal-uniformed students use the service roads or secondary entrance into the main building.

“It was a little bit hectic,” said Barcelona Hills parent Stephanie Kratochvil. She said she would prefer the two start times be separated a bit more. “You’re trying to walk out, and they’re coming in.”

Deciding the schedule was a “challenge,” said Barbara Black, director of school development for Oxford, which has another campus in Chino Valley. The goal was to have start and finish times not unlike other CUSD schools in the area.

“I talked to three different teachers, and all think it went very smoothly,” Black said of the first morning with both Oxford and Barcelona Hills students.

Oxford, which started classes solo on Tuesday, has 449 students in kindergarten through eighth grade at the Barcelona Hills campus, Black said. In addition, another 30 or so independent-study students visit the campus on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, blending into the existing Oxford classes.

The school offers instruction in a variety of ways to appeal to students’ “multiple intelligences,” Oxford's educational model is based on the theory by Howard Gardner, a developmental psychologist at Harvard University, that children learn in eight different ways, although most traditional education focuses on only two: logical and linguistic.

On many of the classroom bulletin boards was the question, “How are you smart?” Black said the students will be taking assessment tests this week to find out their strengths and weaknesses. While the students will work on their weaknesses, they’ll be encouraged to study and retain information via their most keen intelligences, which will have some moving and studying at the same time, perhaps singing while studying or even alphabetizing their notes.

“It’s not about being on the same page on the same day. It’s about getting out of your four walls,” said Executive Director Sue Roche. “It’s about how are they going to retain it and not have to review it for three months” at the start of every year.

The school offers lessons in piano, languages, Tae Kwon Do, regular P.E. classes and science labs, Black said.

"It's like Disneyland," said Nanci Baker, a mother of a first-grader and kindergartner. She commutes 25 minutes one way from San Clemente to Barcelona, 's northernmost school.

"It's just a positive, positive thing. Nothing negative. They're so accepting. Every kid is different and every kid learns differently," Baker said.

Linda Shepard, one of the Barcelona Hills moms who lead , remains optimistic that her school will retain the excellence the school that helped it earn a National Blue Ribbon in 1997.

“The teachers who are here are very upbeat,” Shepard said. "We did lose some excellent teachers. But we still have some excellent teachers.”

Kratochvil said her son, a third-grader, didn’t want to go to school in the morning after learning that most of his friends’ families opted to open enroll at .  

She chose to stick with Barcelona. “He didn’t need to be uprooted.”

The kids are very well aware of the effect Oxford has had on their school, Shepard said. “The kids are wondering if their friends are here.”

Shepard, however, remains hopeful for the coming school year. “The people who are here want to be here.”