A Yorba Linda school will be replaced with a charter school next year

A charter school focused on computer programming and game design has been given the green light to take over a middle school in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District.

The board, in a unanimous decision Tuesday evening, Dec. 12, OK’d Orange County School of Computer Science’s plans to take over Bernardo Yorba Middle School in Yorba Linda.

OCSCS was granted a five-year term that begins July 1, 2024. Then, Bernardo Yorba Middle will be converted into a charter school that can accommodate 600 seventh and eighth-grade students.

At the end of those five years, the charter school anticipates serving up to 1,000 students, and the contract could be extended for additional years.

Students who reside in the Bernardo Yorba boundary area — including feeder elementary schools Fairmont, Glenview, Glenknoll and Woodsboro — will automatically be enrolled in OCSCS unless they want to transfer. In that case, they can apply to attend any middle school in the district, said Superintendent Alex Cherniss.

Priority, after those in the area, will be given next to siblings of current students, children of employees, middle school students in PYLUSD but outside Bernardo Yorba’s area and, lastly, students outside the district.

Several informational meetings and “shadow days” — where prospective families can learn more about the curriculum by OCSCS administration — are planned over the next several weeks for PYLUSD families. At these meetings, questions about transportation, curriculum and overall concerns will be addressed, said Beth Fisher, the Bernardo Yorba principal and lead petitioner for OCSCS.

The first meeting for current Bernardo Yorba families will take place on Dec. 14 online. Details about this meeting and others can be found on PYLUD’s website.

The school will utilize the “Code to the Future” curriculum, an instruction outline that focuses on programming and game design, what its creators say are “21st-century skills.” Through history, math and science, “Code to the Future” teaches students life skills under the umbrella of computer science, Nathaniel Langemann, its director of operations, has said.

“OCSCS will prepare students for jobs that are yet to be invented by empowering them with high-level computer coding skills, innovative creation modules and foundational mathematical skills that have been absent since the inception of the failed Common Core curriculum,” said Cherniss, the district’s superintendent.

The charter school will continue dual-language instruction offered to students at Glenview Elementary. If those students attend OCSCS, they can continue with their Spanish dual-language instruction, a petition for the charter says.

In addition to other core classes like mathematics and English, students will participate in school-wide graphic arts electives featuring computer science principles and design thinking, according to Alyssa Griffiths, a PYLUSD spokesperson. Other electives expected to be offered are instrumental music and student leadership.

Students will be given a computer to use as a part of their schooling, but they will not be behind screens the entire day, said Griffiths.

“They will continue to have access to hard copies of texts and engaging, in-person instruction from highly qualified, credentialed district teachers,” said Griffiths.

During the meeting this week, leading to the unanimous vote, all PLYUSD trustees expressed positive sentiments regarding the school. The front page of the PYLUSD website already boasts the charter school’s coming.

“This is a great opportunity for the kids,” said Trustee Leandra Blades, adding that she “appreciates how fast the PYLUSD staff had to work on this.”

“It is clear that the mission of OCSCS shares our interest to prepare students for the high-growth, high-demand jobs of the future while offering the well-rounded and engaging educational experience synonymous with PYLUSD,” said Blades.

“I want kids to be challenged and be able to scaffold and get them to that level,” said Trustee Carrie Buck. “I think that this will very much feel like all of our other schools but just have a different focus.”

Parents weigh in on the change

Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, PYLUSD families conveyed concerns about what they said was a lack of information by the district about the takeover, citing uncertainties about the fates of various extracurricular programs, transportation logistics and the potential impacts on future high school classes.

Parent Denelle Voegtly, who said that the first time families had heard about the possibility of OCSCS coming in and taking over the school was during the October meeting, said, “I am disappointed but not surprised. My youngest will not attend the charter.”

And Emily Job, a parent of a Bernardo Yorba seventh grader, said she’s concerned that students have not been given a coding foundation ahead of this transition.

Introducing a new coding class for her daughter next year, she said, “feels a little like pushing our kids into a pool with a life vest on and saying, ‘They’ll be fine.’”

“I’m cautiously optimistic and plan to keep our child on the campus because I believe my daughter is flexible enough to handle this experience,” said Job, an alumna of the middle school. “My hope is that with even just one year of coding, she will learn some valuable life skills.”

Although the change is unnerving, she said she is saddened to “watch a school I attended 30 years ago dissolve. That part makes me emotional.”

“I think change is inevitable, and I think that pivoting is the right decision,” said Kristen Habbestad, a parent of a seventh grader. “However, I think that there can be hiccups along the way and that this whole charter proposal needs some massaging. I am curious to see how this will unroll for my child in the first year.”

One unique feature of the school — which has garnered a mixed response from parents — is that OCSCS will cut the physical education requirements down to only two days a week.

“While it’s true that many students are involved in sports, I think dropping physical education requirements down to two days a week is concerning considering that many kids do need the physical effort in order to stay healthy,” said Habbestad. “It’s also a good tension reliever and a way for kids to get rid of excess energy.”

Habbestad said she will not pull her child from the school, though, due to friends who attend and she loves the band program. She still has other concerns, though, from how an increase in student population could create traffic in the area and teachers having too much time for professional development.

Currently, the student population of Bernardo Yorba is just under 600 students.

Other parents, like Erica Perez, see this change to be positive for the PYLUSD community.

“This opportunity for our students is going to be amazing,” said Perez. “Both Trustee Anderson and Trustee Buck asked great questions to which I believe they got the answers they were looking for. Dr Fisher and (assistant principal Racheal) Collins should be applauded for their tireless hours and dedication to our students and the community. I look forward to seeing what leaders come out of OCSCS at Bernardo Yorba.”

PYLUSD is not home to other charter schools, but there have been requests over the past year.

In April, Orange County Classical Academy began to petition for a spot in the district, but it was ultimately never presented to the school board.

And in July, California Republic Leadership Academy petitioned to institute itself as a transitional kindergarten through eighth grade but was denied. CRLA has since gone to the Orange County Board of Education to appeal PYLUSD’s decision.

This story has been updated.