Irvine Inspired: Part 2 - Education

Irvine Inspired pa r t 2 : e d u c at i o n

A 10-part series celebrating the people and milestones in and around Great Park Neighborhoods as the community celebrates its 10th anniversary.

Great Park Neighborhoods Schools Create a Foundation for Students’ Success

Patrick Cui, Portola High graduate

Jaein Kim, Portola High graduate

From a young age, Patrick Cui found himself glued to

entrepreneurism and establishing a launching pad for

his smartphone to watch live launches of new Apple

an idea – and actually create it,” Cui said. “Teachers

devices. As a fan of Apple founder Steve Jobs, he

also taught me how to interact and be a good person.

admired his ability to harness the power of technology

I saw them as role models who gave me a perspective

to create solutions and solve problems.

on the world that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

It wasn’t until he began attending Portola High School

To find his place and participate in building a culture

during its inaugural year in 2016 within Great Park

at the new school, Cui was active in several campus

Neighborhoods that Cui realized he could create his

clubs, film production and the basketball team. He

own technology-based solutions for himself and other

noticed it wasn’t always easy to find information on

students.

clubs and activities on campus, and details were

“It was at Portola High where I fell in love with

largely shared across multiple Instagram accounts or by word of mouth.

So, he rallied a few like-minded classmates to create

Having excelled both as a student and on the cheer

Integral, an app that organizes everything from

team, Kim was weighing her options upon graduation

classroom schedules to campus or club events.

and deciding whether she was ready to start right

Free to download by students, the app helps school

away at a four-year university.

administrators deliver useful content on school

When her cheer coach heard she might stay local and

activities within an all-encompassing “digital

take general ed courses at a community college, she

backpack” or bulletin board. Authorized school

offered Kim an assistant coaching job with Portola

administrators also keep end-to-end control of

High’s Junior Varsity cheer team given the current

updating the content and related features.

coach was leaving. Kim accepted the position and

Cui first presented the concept to Principal John

coached while she attended Irvine Valley College.

Pehrson during his junior year. Principal Pehrson

While the experience lasted only one year, Kim

liked it and adapted the app on campus. Portola

is forever grateful to the teachers, coaches, and

High doesn’t have the traditional school bell to start

counselors who empowered her to chart her own path

classes, so the app created an alternative solution to

during her time as a student and later as a coach.

remind students of their next class or school activity through notifications or an onscreen feature that counts down the minutes to the next event.

“It was a full-circle moment for me, and I was very grateful to have had that experience,” Kim said. “The sheer passion that [the] teachers had made me realize

Today, nearly four years later, the app is now utilized

that learning was supposed to be exciting and fun, and

by three school districts and has more than 20,000

that makes such a big difference when you spend a lot

user downloads. As its CEO, Cui aspires to grow

of time in school Monday through Friday.”

that number while he attends UC Berkeley, where he is studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences with a minor in Public Policy.

Cui credits what he learned in and out of the classroom during high school as key to his success and takes pride in being a part of Portola High’s first graduating class in 2020.

“Portola High and the teachers and coaches played a big role in shaping who I am,” Cui said. “They encouraged me to find my passion and make a difference in the world – and helped me define what I want to do for the foreseeable future.”

Cheering on and giving back

Kim is now entering her junior year at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she is currently majoring in Marketing and Finance with a minor in Photography.

Places with purpose Students like Cui and Kim are the inspiration behind the construction of four state-of-the-art campuses within Great Park Neighborhoods, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023.

As some of the newest schools within the highly-rated Irvine Unified School District, the four campuses create the best possible learning environment for students through flexible workspaces, an integrated

Few students return to their high school campus for a

curriculum, personalized instruction, and the latest

fifth year – at least not willingly. But that’s exactly what

technology.

happened with 2021 Portola High graduate Jaein Kim.

Here’s a glimpse into the four schools within Great Park Neighborhoods – and how they equip students for success in their future studies, careers and life:

Solis Park K-8 OPENED AUGUST 2022

Solis Park is the community’s third K–8 school with a campus spanning seven buildings and 103,000 flexible square feet where students are free to collaborate, discover and grow. That might mean testing out experiments in an innovation lab, identifying native butterflies in the arts and science courtyard, or perfecting their threepointers in the full-court gymnasium — wherever the day leads, this interactive curriculum will leave a long and lasting impact. The campus is one of IUSD’s only schools with dedicated facilities for special education programs.

Cadence Park K-8 OPENED AUGUST 2018

Cadence Park K-8 and its art deco design is filled with innovative, collaborative, and reflective spaces that promote both personal and communal learning, plus inspiring places like the media center’s ‘illumination room’ complete with floor-to-ceiling windows, a working garden and a full-size gymnasium.

Beacon Park K-8 OPENED AUGUST 2016

Beacon Park School was designed to meet criteria developed by the Collaborative for High Performance Schools, which establishes guidelines for campuses that promote environmental stability, energy-efficiency and alignment with modern teaching methods. In keeping with this campus concept, the grounds include covered walkways between each of the buildings, a separate kindergarten area with play structures, outdoor learning areas between classroom buildings, student gardens, grass fields and grade level-appropriate play equipment.

Portola High School OPENED AUGUST 2016

Portola High School is IUSD’s fifth and newest comprehensive high school. The state-of-the-art school was designed to meet criteria developed by the Collaborative for High Performance Schools. That means there’s good lighting, clean air, and comfortable classrooms so that every student has the best possible learning environment with the smallest impact on the environment.

A joint venture of FivePoint funded the construction of the three K-8s as development partner of Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) and provided land for Portola High in partnership with IUSD and The Irvine Company.

fun fact Serving a diverse population of more than 36,000 K-12 students, IUSD consistently ranks among the finest educational systems in the state and nation in subjects like Math, Science, English and Arts/Music.

Its award-winning schools received the National Blue Ribbon Award 20 times since 1982 and were awarded the California Distinguished Schools/Gold Ribbon designation 83 times since 1986. In our book, they receive an A+ for educational excellence!