OCSA WASC Report 2023

ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

WASC REPORT

INTRODUCTION

Established in 1987, Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) provides bright and talented students with a creative, challenging, and nurturing environment that inspires them to express themselves and achieve their highest potential. Through advanced arts courses and rigorous academic instruction, students receive unparalleled preparation for higher education and a profession in the arts.

Orange County School of the Arts

WASC Leadership Team

Michael Ciecek Principal

Becca Freeland Assistant Principal of Student Services

Maria Lazarova, D.M.A. Assistant Principal of Arts

Kimberly Barraza Lyons, Ph.D. Assistant Principal of Instruction

Leon Metoyer Assistant Principal of Special Services

William Wallace, Ed.D. Assistant Principal of Facilities & Supervision

Shelley Stanphill Learning Specialist, WASC Coordinator

Marissa Mares (Science) & Alyssa Neilson (Math)

Focus Group Leads, Curriculum

M.C. Fasheh (World Language) Focus Group Lead, Learning

Gregory Beach (Special Services) & Anton Striegl (Social Studies)

Focus Group Leads, Assessment

Orange County School of the Arts

WASC Home Groups

Electives Curriculum Team

Literature & Composition Curriculum Team

Math Curriculum Team

Science Curriculum Team

Social Studies Curriculum Team

World Language Curriculum Team

Candice Tardif (Literature & Composition)

Focus Group Lead, Culture

Orange County School of the Arts Administration

Teren Shaffer - President and Chief Executive Officer

Steve Wagner - Chief Operating Officer

Michael Ciecek - Principal

Becca Freeland - Assistant Principal of Student Services

Maria Lazarova, D.M.A. - Assistant Principal of Arts

Kimberly Barraza Lyons, Ph.D. - Assistant Principal of Instruction

Leon Metoyer - Assistant Principal of Special Services

William Wallace, Ed.D. - Assistant Principal of Facilities & Supervision

Shelley Stanphill - Learning Specialist, WASC Coordinator

Vanessa Musso - School Counselor, Middle School

Ashley Talbert - School Counselor, High School A - Do

Kara McCann - School Counselor, High School Dr - Kh

Paige Acuña - School Counselor, High School Ki - Me

Sarah Kause - School Counselor, High School Mi - Sh

Rebecca Vance-Freeland - School Counselor, High School Si - Z

Daniel Mattos - Director, Culinary Arts & Hospitality Conservatory

Steven Hyde - Director, Ballet & Contemporary Dance Conservatory

Marlene Pena-Marin - Director, Ballet Folklórico Dance Conservatory

Robert Porch - Director, Ballroom Dance Conservatory

Nicole Berger - Director, Commercial Dance Conservatory

Allison Bushman - Director, Arts & Enterprise Conservatory

Josh Wood - Director, Creative Writing Conservatory

Patrick Williams - Director, Digital Media Conservatory

Aaron Orullian - Director, Film & Television Conservatory

Charna Lopez - Director, Integrated Arts Conservatory

Paige Oden - Director, Visual Arts Conservatory

Ryan Reithmeier, D.M.A. - Director, Classical Voice Conservatory

Sarkis Baltaian, D.M.A. - Director, Instrumental Music Conservatory; Coordinator, Pianist Program

John Reynolds, D.M.A. - Associate Director, Instrumental Music Conservatory; Coordinator, Jazz & Wind Studies Programs

Nicholaus Yee, D.M.A. - Coordinator, Strings & Orchestra Program

Natasha Pasternak - Director, Popular Music Conservatory

John Walcutt - Director, Acting Conservatory

Lauren Lim Jackson - Director, Musical Theatre Conservatory

Kelly Marie Pate - Director, Production & Design Conservatory

Board of Trustees

Halim Dhanidina, Chair

Vincent Foley, Secretary

Jessica Herthel

Gary Humphreys

Paul Satkin

CATEGORY A CATEGORY B CATEGORY C CATEGORY D CATEGORY E

Organization, Vision and Purpose, Governance, Leadership, Staff, and Resources

Curriculum Learning and Teaching Assessment and Accountability

School Culture and Support for Student Personal, Social-Emotional, and Academic Growth

Alcala, Nancy Acuña, Paige Au, Randy Beach, Greg Baron, Sue

Allcorn, Christine Atkinson, Julie Bourg, Josh Choi, Eric Berrey, Jake

Amsler, Stephen Bartlett, Jordan Cesareo, Kathleen Combs, Carrie Blankenstein, Theresa

Andrews, Brett Berger, Nicole Chou, Rachel Cruz, Stacie Brown, Michael

Andrews, Kelly Berliner, Jessica Cook, Kevin Cummuado, Cecilia Bushman, Ally

Baltaian, Sarkis Cano, Kelly

Dowsett, Jack Daniel, Jessica Chang, Andrew

Browne-Davis, Sharon Grimm, Ron Fasheh, MC DeGrave, Jeannette Chong, Chris

Burgueno, Jill Hall, Marlene Gong, Xueyang Ely, Laura Cirigliano, Kelly

Burke, Sarah Hoyt-Heydon, Victoria Grant, Kevin Farris, Lauren Dion, Chris

Ciecek, Michael Humphreys, Gary Haywood, Ryan Gallagher, Amy Dorian-Smith, Stephanie

Coates, Whitney Jan, Ashley Hewitt, Kelly George, Marisa Fleet, Caroline

Cross, Marla Kline-Koenig, Zoe Hurwitz, Sarah Gorman, Rachel Freeland, Becca

Crouch, Marcy Lazarova, Maria Hyde, Steven Hall, Liz Hallas, Fred

Cyr, Erik Lyons, Kim Jones, Kim Huynh, Daniel Karlberg, Christine

Davies, Maggie Mares, Marissa Karim, Cynthia Jackson, Lauren Lee, Kristen

Duca, Jena McCann, Kara Kause, Sarah Mattos, Daniel Linney, Meghan

Harper, Courtney Morel, RJ Kohn, Maya Muñiz, Lilia Metoyer, Leon

Jarjoura-Semaan, Rima Neilson, Alyssa Lim, Serwoo Osorio, Carolina Musso, Vanessa

Jonson, Heather Nilsen, Cara Lopez, Charna Perry, Katie Peña-Marin, Marlene

Lindbeck, Berene Oden, Paige Madden, Ryan Pfeiffer, Jeanna Peterson, Karl

Nguyen, Debbie Pasternak, Natasha Michael, Dan Porch, Robert Reithmeier, Ryan

O'Neill, Melissa Reynolds, John Mo, Samantha Pratt, Jeff Reynolds, Lauren

Orullian, Aaron Sawalha, Lana Nield, Bianca Santana Resendiz, Maria Rios, Michelle

Paniagua, Susana Stern, Maria Pate, Kelly Schmidtbauer, Megan Salkowitz, Lee

Rush, Katie Trask, Rachel Pillay, Kogila Shim, Cameron Sanchez, Anita

Rymar, Karen Weitzel, Chris Remolif, Jennifer Striegl, Anton Shusterman, Renee

Shaffer, Teren Wu, Katelyn Secrist, Terri Tardif, Chloe Spicer, Deidre

Tague, Cory Yong, Hui-Shan Skoglund, Cristen Vance-Freeland, Rebecca Stevens, Brian

Talbert, Ashley Smith, Pamela Wallace, William Stevens, Jim

Thompson, Patrick Sprekelmeyer, Jon Williams, Patrick Stump, Josh

Ton, Elizabeth Stanphill, Shelley Young, Madeline Tardif, Candice

Wagner, Steven Walcutt, John Treas, Terri

Wallace, Jay Zaki, Mariam

Williams, Alexsandra

Wood, Josh

Key:

Blue = Administration, business, or foundation office

Green = Focus group leader

Black = Academic/elective teacher

Red = Conservatory director

Pink = Counselor

Purple = Support staff

I.SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS

1.Program Offerings

The most significant development, at OCSA and across the globe, was undoubtedly the COVID-19 pandemic that forced institutions to close worldwide. OCSA’s last day of in-person instruction prior to closure was March 12, 2020. For the remainder of the spring 2020 semester, students engaged in asynchronous distance learning; this shift allowed students to continue their studies while being flexible enough to respect students’ varying access and capacity during such a tumultuous time. For the fall 2020 semester, OCSA used a synchronous online instructional model four days a week, with asynchronous digital instruction offered on Fridays. During the spring 2021 semester, OCSA established two separate academies for students to opt into - a Distance Learning Academy, in which students continued to learn entirely online, or a Hybrid Learning Academy, in which students attended campus two days a week for socially-distanced in-person instruction and attended class via Zoom two days a week. As of the fall 2021 semester, OCSA has fully reopened for on-campus, in-person instruction for all students.

In the past six years, OCSA has also expanded its academic course offerings. OCSA launched its AP Capstone program in the 2018-2019 school year, which now accepts approximately 60 new students each year. Other new courses include AP Art and Design, AP Chinese Language, AP Computer Science, AP Drawing, Emergency Medical Tech & Care, Ethnic Studies, Financial Algebra, and Middle School Science Academy.

Conservatory offerings have also evolved and expanded. Due to the rapidly increasing number of conservatory programs, OCSA organized its conservatories into five schools: The School of Applied Arts, the School of Dance, the School of Fine and Media Arts, the School of Music, and the School of Theatre. OCSA opened its twentieth conservatory program in fall 2022 - Arts and Enterprise.

2.Admissions

Student enrollment has increased from 2,071 in 2016 to 2,271 in 2022.

The admissions process changed significantly in 2020 to bring the school into better alignment with California Education Code. Rather than having each conservatory director hand-select students based on their auditions, OCSA moved to a modified lottery system. This change ensures a greater equity of opportunity for students to enroll, even if they haven’t had the most extensive artistic training prior to their application.

Prospective students must submit an online application and participate in a Conservatory Placement Activity. With the exception of the Arts & Enterprise Conservatory (which does not require a Placement Activity), applicants are only able to add an entry into the lottery for a conservatory in which they have completed a Placement Activity and met the minimum proficiency level. Students who do not meet the minimum proficiency level of a conservatory may elect to be placed in the lottery for the Arts & Enterprise Conservatory.

3.Charter

In 2017, a sister charter school - California School of the Arts, San Gabriel Valley - opened in Duarte, California. CSArts-SGV offers the same model of academic and arts programming at OCSA, expanding access to the OCSA experience to an additional 1200 students.

In 2020, OCSA’s charter was renewed for five years, with the Orange County Department of Education taking over as OCSA’s charter authorizer from Santa Ana Unified. At this time, OCSA also joined the El Dorado County Charter SELPA, a move which enabled OCSA to hire two full time school psychologists, a full time mental health clinician, a full time inclusion specialist, a full time behavior specialist, a part time speech/language pathologist, and many additional case carriers and paraeducators.

4.Leadership

In the fall of 2018, Dean of Arts Teren Shaffer was promoted to Executive Vice-President of Development. Dr. Maria Lazarova was hired to replace him as Dean of Arts.

In the spring of 2021, after 34 years at the helm of this institution, Dr. Ralph Opacic announced that he would be stepping down as OCSA’s CEO and President. Teren Shaffer was appointed the new CEO and President effective fall 2021. At the same time, OCSA announced that. In the spring of 2021, Michael Ciecek would be promoted to Principal in order to clarify and streamline the leadership structure, Dr. William Wallace stepped into the role of Dean of Facilities and Supervision, and Leon Metoyer was named the new Dean of Special Services. Sally Lopez stepped away from her role as Dean of Instruction; Dr. Kimberly Barraza Lyons was hired to take her place, and Shelley Stanphill was hired as Learning Specialist.

As of the 2022-2023 school year, the administrative team is no longer using the “Dean” title and has shifted back to “Assistant Principal.”

II.SCHOOLWIDE CRITICAL AREAS FOR FOLLOW-UP

The WASC Visiting Committee in 2017 concurred with the schoolwide critical areas from OCSA’s action plan, which included:

1. More availability and increased opportunities for professional learning and collaboration within departments, cross-curricular, and between arts and academics.

2. Increased emotional safety for students and improvement in students’ ability to adopt a growth mindset and take academic risks across all disciplines.

3. Improve schoolwide communication so that all stakeholders are more informed about the Schoolwide Learner Outcomes, school operations, student needs, etc.

4. Improve how OCSA (teachers, counselors, students, and staff) differentiates learning experiences based on assessment data, student needs, and student interests.

The WASC Visiting Committee in 2017 also recommended that the following area be addressed in the action plan:

1. Refine the schoolwide process of data analysis (using both quantitative and qualitative measures) in order to make informed decisions about programs, professional development, and interventions that effectively address student needs.

III.ONGOING FOLLOW-UP PROCESS

In our efforts to continually reflect and improve, the following processes have been incorporated into the fabric of our school:

• Leadership meets regularly to monitor the progress of the action plan throughout the year. This includes site administration, our Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer, school counselors, and members of the special services team. Meetings are weekly and include monitoring of student assessment data and trends.

• An annual report is submitted to our Board each year showing the progress of the action plan, conservatory success, and academic trends.

• Within the evaluation model employed, our staff creates goals at the beginning of each year. Action plan goals are incorporated into individual goals.

• Routine stakeholder surveys are distributed, collected, and analyzed.

• All staff are assembled in mid-August, prior to the start of school, to spend time discussing, collaborating, and developing around OCSA yearly themes that are aligned with the components of the current action plan.

It is recognized that the WASC self study process is fluid and ongoing. Our efforts to assess student progress will continue and evolve as the needs of our students dictate. Our staff is eager to succeed, and when success is achieved in one area, we look for the next area of growth.

IV.REFLECTION, ANALYSIS ON PROGRESS, SUPPORTING EVIDENCE, AND IMPACT

1.Professional Learning and Collaboration

Goal: More availability and increased opportunities for professional learning and collaboration within departments, cross-curricular, and between arts and academics.

Rationale: Teacher survey data revealed a desire among teachers to collaborate more (21% felt there were insufficient opportunities for professional development, and 49% felt there was not adequate time for collaboration). Disaggregated data analysis found that certain subgroups (e.g. students with disabilities, BIPOC students) had significant room for growth on assessments, indicating a clear need for professional development in equitable instructional practices.

Progress:

• CTE

As of the 2021-2022 school year, OCSA has partnered with the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) to provide a Career Technical Education (CTE) credentialing program for our conservatory and elective teachers. All conservatory and elective teachers are expected to have their preliminary CTE credential by the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Courses have been redesigned to align with either the Arts, Media, and Entertainment or the Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation pathways.

• Professional Development on Inclusion and Antiracism

OCSA has engaged its teachers in professional development focused inclusion and antiracism for the past three years. In the 2020-2021 school year, teachers engaged in a book study on Not Light But Fire, which culminated in a virtual visit and talk from the author, high school English teacher Matthew Kay. During the 2021-2022 school year, Dr. Rebecca Harrison from OCDE led professional development around culturally and linguistically relevant teaching (CLRT). Dr. Harrison guided teachers in developing and pursuing their own CLRT goals, joining nearly every staff meeting to offer ongoing guidance and support. During the 2022-2023 school year, OCSA continues to pursue inclusive teaching by focusing on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and inviting teachers to approach their curriculum from an equity standpoint.

• Teacher Rounds

During the 2017-2018 school year, teacher rounds were launched. Teacher teams of 3-4 met to establish a “problem of practice” and then observed one teacher every 6-week grading period to observe instruction centered around their identified problem and provide wonderings, which led to discussion and reflection for all teachers involved. All teachers were expected to be observed at least once throughout the year and to observe all of the other teachers in their rounds group. Curriculum leads then facilitated debrief sessions during PLC meetings once every six weeks.

• Renaissance Faire

The OCSA Renaissance Faire began in 2017 and continued through 2018 and 2019. With the events of 2020 we postponed the event for 3 years, but it is back in full force for 2023. This unique event is a collaboration between the conservatories and the 7th grade history classes. The students research the time period and history and present interactive displays/booths and our conservatories perform pieces that align with the time period as well as showcasing work from that period of study in the fine arts. Some of the topics researched by the 7th grade students include art, recreation, dance, health, music, food and drink, and careers of the Renaissance. Our conservatory classes have presented food history, pieces of music from the period, selections from Broadway musicals, fighting demonstrations. Additionally, our parent community participates and helps with set-up, cleanup, and supporting our students as they present to each other.

ON STUDENT LEARNING FOR ACTION PLAN GOALS

• Master Artist and Creators & Innovators Series

The Master Artist Series debuted in the 2016-2017 school year as part of OCSA’s 30th anniversary celebration. This annual program brings master artists and industry leaders to share their gifts, career stories, and expertise with students through residencies, master classes, lectures, and performances. Guest artists have included jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator Wynton Marsalis; Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell; actress, playwright, activist, and educator Anna Deavere Smith; opera soprano Deborah Voigt; renowned executive chef Alex Guarnaschelli; concert violinist and educator Midori; songwriter and Disney legend Richard Sherman; composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch; acclaimed mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade; filmmaker and director Francis Ford Coppola; dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen; and many more. The Creators & Innovators Series engages influential and accomplished thought leaders in a forum designed to inspire, enlighten, inform, and entertain. Committed to serving students in our community, the OCSA Foundation has developed this series as a vehicle to connect young people, business professionals, and active change-makers from a variety of fields. Topics have included “OC Meets the Global Economy” and “Brand Innovators.”

• Committee Meetings

To facilitate collaborative community among staff members and invite a variety of stakeholder perspectives, OCSA has long held optional committee meetings on Wednesdays after the academic day. As of the 20212022 school year, three committees meet regularly: the Culture Committee, which discusses matters related to climate, culture, and community; the Operations Committee, which discusses matters related to facilities, logistics, and scheduling; and the Grading & Assessment Task Force, which discusses matters related to feedback, assessment, and grading practices. All staff are invited to these meetings, and each committee meeting typically includes several academic/elective teachers, some administrators, and some conservatory directors.

Evidence of Impact:

• According to the end-of-year teacher survey administered in spring 2018, some staff reported that teacher rounds were very positive and productive, but many others believed they were too restrictive with the rounds focusing on only one problem. As a result, the following year a Pineapple Chart was implemented as a more organic way to facilitate observation; unfortunately, very few teachers participated, with many teachers citing a lack of accountability or clear expectations around the use of the Pineapple Chart.

• According to a stakeholder survey administered in spring 2022 after a year of CLRT training: 83% of White students, 76% of Asian students, 70% of Hispanic/Latino students, and 56% of Black students believe that the curriculum reflects their cultural beliefs, ethnicity, and identity. Over 80% of teachers are satisfied with the support they receive to implement culturally and linguistically relevant teaching.

• According to the same 2022 stakeholder survey, over 85% of teachers regularly collaborate and share assessments within their department; however, only about 27% of teachers regularly collaborate across departments. Nearly three-fourths of teachers feel satisfied with the professional development opportunities at OCSA.

IV.REFLECTION, ANALYSIS ON PROGRESS, SUPPORTING EVIDENCE, AND IMPACT

2.Emotional Safety and Growth Mindset

Goal: Increased emotional safety for students and improvement in students’ ability to adopt a growth mindset and take academic risks across all disciplines.

Rationale: With the long and demanding school day and mandatory programming in both the academics and the arts, OCSA deemed it crucial to help students learn to manage the demands on their time and build coping and resiliency skills. This need was further underscored by the uniqueness of the OCSA population (geographically diverse, large LGBTQ+ population, higher prevalence of anxiety and other mental health needs).

Progress:

• Expanded Access to Mental Health Resources

OCSA has dramatically increased student access to mental health resources, both on-campus and off-site. In 2020, OCSA hired two full-time school psychologists and one full-time mental health clinician, all of whom have been able to provide mental health services to students during the academic day. In 2021, OCSA opened a Wellness Center in the Annex, which provides a safe space for students with mental health needs to decompress and de-escalate as needed. And in 2022, OCSA began using Care Solace, a mental health care coordination service that connects students and families to outside treatment providers.

• Professional Development and Counselor Presentations on Growth Mindset

Throughout the spring 2017 semester, academic teachers engaged in conversations around grit and growth mindset at staff meetings and professional development days. The growth mindset video shown to teachers is also shared with students during counselors’ classroom presentations.

• Professional Development on Mental Health

Since our last WASC visit, OCSA has held five professional development days focused on student mental health. In September and October 2017, academic and conservatory teachers learned about suicide prevention. During September 2018, OCSA invited a speaker from Children’s Hospital Orange County (CHOC) to discuss children’s mental health trends and needs. In January 2019, Dr. Perry Passaro of the Anxiety and Depression Center provided in-depth training on supporting students with anxiety and/or depression. And in January 2020, Dr. Jerry Weichman of the Weichman Clinic provided guidance on supporting students with mental health challenges.

• Student and Family Presentations on Mental Health

Students and families have gotten several presentations around mental health issues. Prior to the pandemic, all 9th grade students attended a freshman assembly each fall; the focus of this assembly in 2017 was preventing bullying, and in 2018 they focused on building resiliency. The movie “Angst” was screened in spring 2018, with counselors providing additional resources and strategies. And our PSO (People Supporting OCSA) has held multiple parent education nights on mental health, growth mindset, and bullying prevention.

• Care Solace

OCSA has partnered with Care Solace since spring 2022. Care Solace is a service that partners with schools to provide mental health services to students and staff. If a student needs expanded mental health or substance use treatment, our school counselors and other on-campus support staff can refer them to Care Solace. Care Solace will then work with the student, their family, and their insurance to promptly find a support provider that meets their needs. While Care Solace is not an on-campus service, they partner with OCSA to provide a seamless transition and continuation of support both at school and outside.

ON STUDENT LEARNING FOR ACTION PLAN GOALS

Evidence of Impact:

• According to a stakeholder survey administered in spring 2022, over two-thirds of students are satisfied with the support they get from OCSA for their social-emotional needs, and 85% believe that OCSA is a welcoming, inclusive environment. The corresponding parent survey revealed that over 85% of parents are satisfied with OCSA’s social-emotional support offerings, and nearly 95% believe that OCSA is a welcoming, inclusive environment.

• The corresponding survey for teachers indicated that 78% of teachers feel confident supporting students with social, emotional, or behavioral needs.

• From February-November 2022, our counseling team made 69 referrals to Care Solace, with 34 students booking appointments with treatment providers as a result.

IV.REFLECTION, ANALYSIS ON PROGRESS, SUPPORTING EVIDENCE, AND IMPACT

3.Schoolwide Communication

Goal: Improve schoolwide communication so that all stakeholders are more informed about the Schoolwide Learner Outcomes, school operations, student needs, etc.

Rationale: Student survey data revealed that students were uncertain about school policies and protocols, overwhelmed by the number of communication platforms, and completely unfamiliar with the SLOs. Parents were also confused about navigating the website, online gradebooks, and social media platforms, and they requested more standardized forms of communication.

Progress:

• Schoolwide Use of Google Classroom and Agenda Slides

In 2018-2019 OCSA purchased approximately 1500 Chromebooks and 55 Chromebook charging units; every academic classroom on campus now has a Chromebook charging unit with approximately 32 Chromebooks. These devices are available for student use during both the academic and conservatory portions of the day. All teachers are expected to post grades in Aeries on a regular basis and must link a daily agenda slides page as their course website in Aeries. As of 2020, all teachers - both academic/elective and conservatory - are expected to maintain a Google Classroom that houses all class materials and references.

•

ParentSquare (Aeries Communications)

Aeries Communication provides one- and two-way communication between OCSA teachers and staff and students/parents. Students and parents have the ability to identify how they would like to be notified for announcements and can customize all announcements to their preferred language.

•

Weekly Wrap Email

Each Friday, the OCSA leadership team emails out a “Weekly Wrap” to all students, staff, families, and supporters of OCSA. This message includes important updates and reminders, invitations to events, and celebrations of the great things that our school community is doing.

• Administrivia

Each Monday, OCSA administration sends an “Administrivia” email to all staff. These emails contain reminders, upcoming performances, meetings and opportunities to get involved, celebrations of what’s happening in the classroom, and other fun features to promote collegiality. Past Administrivias are all archived so that staff can refer back as needed.

• SLO Posters in Every Classroom

From fall 2019 through fall 2020, a task force composed of academic teachers, conservatory directors, and administrators met to simplify and streamline the Schoolwide Learner Outcomes. Whereas our previous SLOs consisted of 33 separate abilities, the current SLOs now include six priority goals for learners: Wonder, Communicate, Collaborate, Problem-Solve, Create, and Reflect. Once these SLOs were finalized, posters were printed and distributed to all teachers so that now every academic classroom has the SLOs posted and visible for both students and staff throughout the learning process.

ON STUDENT LEARNING FOR ACTION PLAN GOALS

Evidence of Impact:

• According to a stakeholder survey administered in spring 2022, the Schoolwide Learner Outcomes (SLOs) are effectively embedded into instruction (even if they aren’t always explicitly pointed out within the lesson). Over 95% of teachers are confident that their classes are aligned to each of the SLOs. The vast majority of parents and students also agree that OCSA is preparing students for success with respect to the SLOs.

• According to the same 2022 stakeholder survey, over 85% of teachers are satisfied with the feedback and guidance they receive from their supervisor.

• According to the same survey, over 81% of parents feel well-informed about what is going on in their child’s conservatory, and approximately 61% feel well-informed about what is going on in their child’s academic classes.

• At a January 2022 professional development day, anecdotal data indicate that most teachers felt OCSA was very successful in meeting this goal. Improvements in communication may be one of our “pandemic positives” -an unexpected bright side to distance learning, as we all had to find new avenues to communicate class expectations and school operations.

IV.REFLECTION, ANALYSIS ON PROGRESS, SUPPORTING EVIDENCE, AND IMPACT

4.Differentiation

Goal: Improve how OCSA (teachers, counselors, students, and staff) differentiates learning experiences based on assessment data, student needs, and student interests.

Rationale: Lagging assessment scores among marginalized subgroups (e.g. students with disabilities, BIPOC students, etc.) suggested the need for instruction that is appropriately tailored to each student’s unique needs. The increase in AP enrollment and the simultaneous increase in students with anxiety/ depression also suggested a greater need for student support.

Progress:

• Four-year planning meetings

Our high school counseling team meets one-on-one with every ninth-grade student during the fall semester to discuss the student’s aspirations during and after high school.

• Co-teaching Program

In response to the increase in special education students and the need for additional support and resources, OCSA piloted a co-taught Math 2 class during the 2017- 2018 school year. The collaboration between the math teacher and special education teacher fostered a better understanding of our math program for the Special Education team, and a better understanding of student needs and accommodations for our math teachers. Since then, OCSA has expanded its co-teaching program to support Math 3, Integrated I, Lit Comp I-III, and middle school science. Teachers participating in the co-taught classes have been provided with professional development on co-teaching as well as release time to collaborate, plan instruction, and identify resources to support their students.

• Study Skills Lab

In response to the increase in our 504 student population and to better support both students and teachers, OCSA created a Study Skills lab class. Initially launched during the 2018-2019 school year, this course has been refined in 2019-2020 to include lessons in organization, note taking, exam preparation, etc., and also includes time for students to get support on their current assignments. This class is staffed by a full-time credentialed teacher and is supported with instructional assistants.

•

Test Center

During the 2019-2020 school year, the Special Services team created a testing center staffed by two instructional assistants to facilitate assessments for students with testing accommodations. Students with IEPs, 504 plans, or SST plans can complete their test in a low-stress, low-stimulation environment with proctors who are prepared to facilitate the use of extended time. This resource has become a crucial support for certain students with anxiety, ADHD, processing difficulties, or other needs.

• Student Study Team Program

OCSA continues to utilize a Student Study Team (SST) program as part of its multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). This team-based approach to supporting struggling students can be initiated by teachers, families, students, counselors, or other support staff.

• Instructional Technology

In 2018-2019 OCSA purchased approximately 1500 Chromebooks and 55 Chromebook charging units; every academic classroom on campus now has a Chromebook charging unit with approximately 32 Chromebooks. These devices are available for student use during both the academic and conservatory portions of the day. Along with providing Chromebook carts in every classroom, OCSA purchased a variety of instructional technology programs to support teacher use of instructional technology in meaningful ways. The following programs are

ON STUDENT LEARNING FOR ACTION PLAN GOALS

available for all teachers to use: Actively Learn, G Suite, Pear Deck, Gale Resources in Context, Go Formative, and Akindi. Additionally, different departments utilize a range of other technological programs and resources to support students’ individual needs. The math team uses programs such as NWEA MAP, iReady, and Khan Academy in order to assess students’ abilities and provide targeted support. The lit/comp team regularly incorporates Membean into instruction to ensure that all students are able to build their academic vocabulary.

• Mentorship Program

During the 2016-2017 school year OCSA launched a mentorship program which has since continued to grow. Participating in this program provides an invaluable opportunity to gain exposure to real- world career paths, get hands-on experience, and make a connection with a business professional. Upon completion of the mentorship application, 11th grade students are matched with an OCSA Board member, alumnus, current or alumni parent, or other professional from the OCSA community to enable them to learn about a specific career, as well as benefit from the wise guidance of a caring adult outside the family and school structure. Mentors share experiences, help explore career options, and develop decision-making skills. The program gives students an opportunity to “test-drive” their career of choice, as well as provide valuable information about the realities associated with your chosen profession.

• College Fair

Each year, OCSA hosts a two-day College Fair on its campus, enabling students in grades 9-12 to meet and network with college representatives and decision-makers from across the country. The goal of the fair is to provide an opportunity for our students to explore a wide variety of post-secondary educational options. Through discussions and interaction with college representatives from around the country and abroad, students have a chance to network and learn about the institutions that interest them. The college fair includes information booths with representatives from over 150 colleges and universities, panel discussions about majoring in various subjects, master classes and workshops, and information sessions on the application and financial aid processes. This program was launched in the fall of 2016 and continues each October.

• Professional Development on Inclusion and Antiracism

OCSA has engaged its teachers in professional development focused inclusion and antiracism for the past three years. In the 2020-2021 school year, teachers engaged in a book study on Not Light But Fire, which culminated in a virtual visit and talk from the author, high school English teacher Matthew Kay. During the 2021-2022 school year, Dr. Rebecca Harrison from OCDE led professional development around culturally and linguistically relevant teaching (CLRT). Dr. Harrison guided teachers in developing and pursuing their own CLRT goals, joining nearly every staff meeting to offer ongoing guidance and support. During the 2022-2023 school year, OCSA continues to pursue inclusive teaching by focusing on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and inviting teachers to approach their curriculum from an equity standpoint.

Evidence of Impact:

• According to a stakeholder survey administered in spring 2022, over three-fourths of students with formal support plans feel they are well supported with their IEP or 504 needs.

• Our SPED and 504 population have steadily grown over the past decade, from 4.6% of our student body in 2010 to 9.9% in 2016 to 12.1% in 2022.

• Participation in the SST program has skyrocketed from about 10-20 students per year to well over 100 students per year. This is due in large part to learning loss and mental health struggles arising from the pandemic.

• According to a stakeholder survey administered in spring 2022 after a year of CLRT training: 83% of White students, 76% of Asian students, 70% of Hispanic/Latino students, and 56% of Black students believe that the curriculum reflects their cultural beliefs, ethnicity, and identity.

• According to the same survey, over 80% of teachers are satisfied with the support they receive to implement culturally and linguistically relevant teaching. Over 82% feel confident supporting their students with IEPs or 504 plans.

REFLECTION, ANALYSIS ON PROGRESS, SUPPORTING EVIDENCE, AND IMPACT ON STUDENT LEARNING FOR ACTION PLAN GOALS

5. Data Analysis

Goal: Refine the schoolwide process of data analysis (using both quantitative and qualitative measures) in order to make informed decisions about programs, professional development, and interventions that effectively address student needs.

Rationale: The visiting committee recommended that ongoing data analysis would be a valuable tool for informing and driving our progress on the other goals (collaboration, growth mindset, communication, and differentiation).

Progress:

• NWEA MAP

Assessments

Since 2021, the OCSA math team has incorporated the NWEA Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment as a means of tracking student growth. All math teachers administer the MAP 2-3 times per year - once during the first week of school, once at the semester (optional), and again at the end of the year. These results are used to determine appropriate placement in classes, identify skill gaps and needed interventions, and drive discussions around supports in SST, 504, and IEP meetings.

• PLCs

Prior to distance learning, professional learning communities (PLCs) were expected to collaboratively analyze assessment data at least once every six weeks. Teachers would sort students’ assessments into four categories (exceeding, meeting, approaching, or below standard) and share best practices for addressing specific struggles and skill gaps. This practice has not been mandatory since the pandemic as teachers have juggled the many demands of the changing landscape of education.

• Stakeholder Surveys

Each spring, OCSA administers an online stakeholder survey to students, teachers, parents, and support staff. These surveys focus on culture, instruction, or both. Data from these surveys are carefully reviewed by school leadership to better understand stakeholder perceptions, growth over time, and opportunities for improvement.

• SST Process

Since our last WASC visit, OCSA has grown in its use of data analysis to support struggling students through the Student Study Team (SST) program. From 2021-2022, the school used the BeyondSST platform to compile qualitative and quantitative data on students’ performance. Now, the Learning Specialist takes the lead in identifying data to collect, gathering evidence from teachers, and collecting evidence through classroom observations. These data are analyzed collaboratively by the full team (parents, teachers, counselor, student, and sometimes others) and drive decisions about appropriate accommodations and interventions for individual students.

Evidence of Impact:

• The MAP assessment has served as a central discussion point for the math team with regards to student growth. Dozens of students have been moved to a different, more appropriate math class as a result of the performance data from this assessment.

• Participation in the SST program has skyrocketed from about 10-20 students per year to well over 100 students per year. Many of these students are referred for formal IEP or 504 plans, while others use the data gathered to facilitate conversations with teachers and self-advocate for their learning needs.

• Stakeholder surveys are reviewed not only by administration, but also by every conservatory director. The data play a key role in decisions about programming, staffing, and policies.

V.CRITICAL AREAS FOR FOLLOW-UP NOT CURRENTLY IN THE ACTION PLAN

The pivot to distance learning in the spring of 2020, and the aftermath thereof, has been a priority for the OCSA community. Due to the challenges of learning online, inequitable access to online resources, and both physical and mental health problems, the OCSA community has seen learning losses and social-emotional struggles. Consequently, the following critical areas should be considered moving forward:

• Learning loss for all students due to school closures, particularly in skill-based classes that build over time (e.g. math, world language).

• Widening achievement gaps due to inequitable access to resources.

• Attendance struggles due to illness and mental health issues.

• Helping students re-acclimate to a social, interactive, in-person school environment and the expectations thereof (re-norming).

Chapter 2

STUDENT/COMMUNITY PROFILE AND SUPPORTING DATA AND FINDINGS

I.HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

1.Community

OCSA - A Brief History

1987: Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA) was founded at Los Alamitos High School (LAHS) featuring four arts conservatories. The school started with a student enrollment of 125 9-12th graders and a total operating budget of $190,000.

1988: OCHSA’s Foundation was created.

1996: Los Alamitos Unified School District (LAUSD) developed plans to build OCHSA its own campus in Los Alamitos as a result of growth in enrollment at LAHS. OCHSA’s enrollment increased to 470 and a total operating budget of $1,300,000.

1999: Los Alamitos City Council blocked construction of OCHSA’s campus. The Santa Ana Mayor & City Staff invited OCHSA to relocate to Santa Ana, assisting the school by providing $2 million in redevelopment funds.

2000: OCHSA opened its doors in Santa Ana, offering unparalleled academic and arts instruction in nine arts conservatories to 800 students in grades 7-12, with a total operating budget of $6,500,000.

2009: OCHSA offered eleven arts conservatories to more than 1,400 students from 108 cities throughout Southern California. The school had an annual operating budget of $13 million, receiving $9 million from the State of California and raising $4 million from the private sector through the Orange County High School of the Arts Foundation.

2010: OCHSA continued to experience record student enrollment — we received more than 1,800 applications for only 480 openings for the 2010-11 school year! We reached an enrollment of over 1,550 students this year.

2011: OCHSA announced the addition of two new conservatory programs — Commercial Music (within Instrumental Music) and Ballroom Dancing (within International Dance). We acquired a commercial building that now houses our Visual Arts Center, as well as a 500 seat theatre with support spaces (formerly the OC Pavilion) that became the school’s premier performance venue. In December 2010, we opened the new OCHSA Center for the Arts and dedicated the beautiful main stage Margaret A. Webb Theatre. We also received a renewal of our WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) Accreditation for the next six years as well as a renewal of our charter from Santa Ana Unified School District. Our enrollment reached an all-time high of 1,750 students.

2012: OCHSA opened the 2012-13 school year with 1,850 students, celebrated its 25th Anniversary and launched its first new conservatory in several years: Culinary Arts & Hospitality. The school name officially changed to Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) to reflect its longtime service to middle school students and community members.

2013: OCSA opened the 2013-14 school year with 1,920 students and its 13th conservatory: Digital Media. Plans are in development for the further expansion of the campus in Santa Ana.

2014: OCSA announced a $20 million capital campaign called Masterpiece in the Making to build a new instructional center and improve existing facilities, created our 14th conservatory (Acting) and separated Instrumental Music into Classical and Contemporary Music.

2015: OCSA opened The Marybelle Musco Dance Center, The Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Music Center and The Argyros Science Center in August 2015. Our campus completion campaign enabled us to increase our enrollment to 2,170 students for the 20152016 school year.

I.HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

2016: OCSA celebrated its 30th anniversary with the beginning of several new initiatives such as the Master Artist Series, the OCSA College Fair, and Mentorship Program that have become a permanent part of the offerings at OCSA. Included in the nearly 200 performances was the 30th anniversary concert: a special collaboration between the Instrumental Music, Classical Voice, and Ballet & Contemporary Dance conservatories celebrating 30 years of OCSA.

2019: OCSA’s charter renewal cycle was punctuated by a change of charter authorizers: after 20 years being authorized by the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD), OCSA’s charter moved to the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE). Like other schools across the nation, the COVID-19 pandemic sent OCSA into 100% distance learning beginning in March 2020 for the remainder of the school year, with the cancellation of all performances and schoolwide events. The Class of 2020 was celebrated in July with a drive-thru graduation celebration that was appreciated by all involved.

2020: With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, OCSA began the school year in 100% distance learning, with students learning from their homes, and performing their artistry in unique and creative locations. Performances resumed online with beautifully produced videos that saw many programs collaborate with each other more than ever before. Classes remained in 100% distance learning until March 2021 when the school began hybrid instruction for students until the end of the school year.

2021: OCSA celebrated its 35th anniversary with a full return to in-person learning, and live performances on campus. Like the 30th anniversary, the performance season was celebrated with a 35th anniversary collaboration between Instrumental Music, Classical Voice, Ballet Folklorico, Ballet & Contemporary Dance, and Acting. OCSA also launched the Students First Capital Campaign to transform the exterior of the campus into a student commons and green space for years to come.

2022: OCSA opened the school year with nearly 2,300 students and the launch of the Arts & Enterprise Conservatory with a focus on the business side of the creative industry.

I.HISTORY AND BACKGROUND (continued)

School Background and Purpose

Summary: The mission of Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) is to provide an unparalleled arts and academic education in a creative, challenging, and nurturing environment to a diverse student body passionate about the arts, preparing them to reach their highest potential. Founded in 1987 by Dr. Ralph Opacic, who led as Executive Director until 2021, OCSA has grown from a small after-school arts program to become a full time, innovative public charter arts school which embraces and encourages artistic creativity and academic excellence. We were one of the first public arts schools founded in California, and the only full-time, comprehensive public charter arts high school in Orange County.

Academics: OCSA provides a rigorous college preparatory curriculum aligned to the California Common Core Standards. Students attend approximately five hours of academic classes in addition to three hours of daily arts instruction. We typically have a 100% graduation rate (there have been years where one or two students don’t graduate - it is rare) and our graduates continue to be recruited by the nation’s top universities and arts conservatory programs. The school is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

Arts Training: OCSA offers pre-professional training in twenty arts conservatories/programs, including Acting, Arts & Enterprise, Ballet & Contemporary Dance, Ballet Folklórico Dance, Ballroom Dance, Classical Voice, Commercial Dance, Creative Writing, Culinary Arts & Hospitality, Digital Media, Film & Television, Integrated Arts, Jazz Studies, Musical Theatre, Piano, Popular Music, Production & Design, Strings & Orchestra, Visual Arts, and Wind Studies. The conservatory learning experiences include daily classes taught by highlytrained full time faculty and working professional artists. We also bring in renowned guest artists, university faculty and industry leaders who share their expertise through residencies, master classes, demonstrations, lectures, and performances. In addition, OCSA students participate in more than 300 performances, presentations and exhibitions each school year. These opportunities are invaluable for the artistic training of our students, and include dance and music concerts, plays, readings, film festivals, gallery shows, musicals, and recitals, held on and off campus. Students also participate in many off-site field trips and tours to renowned arts venues to see professional productions and exhibitions, as well as competing in regional and national arts festivals.

OCSA Students: The school currently serves more than 2,200 culturally diverse and gifted students in grades 7-12 from 110 cities and five counties throughout Southern California. The diversity of our student population is reflective of our service area: ≥ 32% white and ≥ 59% ethnic minorities, with 9% declining to state. Over 250 of our students are Free and Reduced Lunch students and 11% come from our home city of Santa Ana. Students with a passionate interest in the arts and a strong academic background are encouraged to apply. Prospective students must submit an online application and participate in a Conservatory Placement Activity. With the exception of the Arts & Enterprise Conservatory (which does not require a Placement Activity), applicants will only be able to add an entry into the lottery for a conservatory in which they have completed a Placement Activity and met the minimum proficiency level. Students who do not meet the minimum proficiency level of a conservatory may elect to be placed in the lottery for the Arts & Enterprise Conservatory. Only about 40% (it changes year to year) of the students who apply are accepted due to instructional space limitations and more importantly, the enforcement of a small teacher/ student ratio in both the academics and arts classes. The school is a tuition-free, donation-dependent, public charter school; no student is admitted or denied based on family financial capacity.

OCSA Faculty: Our dedicated teachers truly nurture and develop the individual talents of each student. The academic staff is fully credentialed, and the majority of the 300 arts and academic teachers hold advanced degrees. They are dedicated and supportive professionals, many of whom are working artists, who help students develop the skills necessary for higher education or a profession in the arts. Dozens of the faculty members have been with the school for ten to twenty years, and several arts conservatory teachers have worked with Dr. Opacic since the beginning of OCSA. OCSA students have had the opportunity to work in residency and have master classes with some of the most well-known guest artists and teachers in the country, including dancer/choreographer Debbie Allen, director and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, actor Matthew Morrison, dancer/choreographer Jodie Gates, composer/conductor Marvin Hamlisch, pianist Lang Lang, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, actress Bebe Neuwirth, actress/ producer Cathy Rigby, and many more.

Organizational Leadership: Orange County School of the Arts was founded in 1987 by 27-year-old visionary Ralph Opacic with a big dream—to take young people passionate about the arts and put them together with professional working artists in a world-class art school offering a pathway to college and a career in the arts. What he had was a powerful vision, great optimism and a passion to communicate his dream to anyone who would listen. Soon his dream of an arts school became a reality. Dr. Opacic has been personally honored with the Artistic Visionary Cultural Legacy Award from Arts Orange County for his continued efforts in support of arts education as well as the Outstanding Founder Award from National Philanthropy Day/Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award from the Orange County Business Journal. Dr. Opacic’s work continues to impact the lives of thousands of talented young artist scholars and receive strong support from the philanthropic, educational and artistic community.

The school maintains three fundraising arms, each a separate nonprofit organization: 1) The OCSA Foundation, which raises private funds through Board and Support Group Dues, Special Events, Community Classes, Individual Contributions, Corporate and Foundation Grants; 2) The OCSA School, which raises private funds through donations from parents to support arts and academic programs, and manages the state budget allocations to the school; and 3) The OCSA Legacy Fund, which raises private funds for capital property development. The Foundation donates funds to the School at the end of each fiscal year from its contributed and earned income.

The OCSA Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the financial support of the school’s tuition-free arts programs. The OCSA Foundation is responsible for directing annual funds, legacy giving and capital fundraising efforts, providing marketing resources, leading strategic planning efforts, creating major student performance opportunities, and implementing community outreach programs. The OCSA Foundation is governed by a volunteer board composed of prominent business and cultural leaders. Board members provide expertise in many areas, including real estate, property development, construction, law, arts and entertainment, banking and investments, marketing and public relations, education, retail, health and human services, government relations, business, strategic planning, and technology. Members work with staff as community ambassadors, as well as providing connections to and cultivating relationships with potential new donors. Board members pay annual dues, serve on committees, and support OCSA fundraising events through sponsorships, auction items, in-kind donations, and the hosting of guests. Many members also provide in-kind contributions of services and equipment from their businesses. While many Foundation Board members became involved while their children were students, their belief in the mission of the school is so strong they have stayed on well after their children graduated.

The role of the OCSA School Board of Trustees is focused on learning and achievement and the members set policy and oversee the personnel, students, curriculum, public finances and operations of the charter school itself. Two Board members are appointed by the Santa Ana Unified School District, and three are appointed by the Foundation Board of Directors. The School Board of Trustees does not have a private fundraising role.

Financial Structure: The school year is based on a $39 million operating budget. Academic instruction is funded by the State of California from an ADA (average daily attendance) allocation. As a public charter school, OCSA is tuition free but donation dependent — we rely on the generosity of the private sector to fund the additional $12 million annual cost of our arts conservatories, scholarship and community programs as well as the additional costs of equipment, facility maintenance and capital property acquisition. These private funds are raised through the School’s nonprofit and through the OCSA Foundation nonprofit. Throughout the past 35 years, OCSA has proved to be a sustainable organization, receiving recurring support from a stable and diverse funding base, donors who are vested in the school’s future growth.

Awards and Recognition: OCSA has received honors and recognition for innovation and excellence in both arts and academic education. The school has been named one of the top ten charter schools in California by the University of Southern California, a California Distinguished School three times, a National Blue Ribbon School, and received recognition as a model arts education program by the Kennedy Center, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arts School Network and the US Department of Education. The National Association of Special Education Teachers has named OCSA an Exceptional Charter School in Special Education from 2017-2021. OCSA is consistently named one of America’s Best High Schools by U.S. News & World Report. Niche has ranked OCSA the #1 best charter high school in California from 2020-2022. A high ranking indicates that the school is an exceptional academic institution with a positive, accepting school culture, as well as a diverse set of highachieving students who rate their experience very highly.

Parent and Community Organizations

Commitment to those in the community — especially to those who do not have access to the arts — is an important strategic objective of the Orange County School of the Arts. With that in mind, OCSA offers a variety of accessible arts performances and arts training to the general public, in addition to our enrolled student population. These programs include the Camp OCSA Scholarship Program, which allows students in grades 4-6 who live or attend school in Santa Ana to participate for FREE in the unique extracurricular arts classes available through CSArts Academy at OCSA, and the California School of the Arts Academy (CSArts Academy), which provides art classes for children throughout Southern California during weekends and summers. The Gluck Community Service Arts Fellowship Program is our flagship community outreach program, reaching the largest and most diverse audience, with involvement from students in all of OCSA’s conservatories. This program truly exemplifies our commitment to community service.

The Gluck Community Service Arts Fellowship Programs: These programs are accessible art activities and performances, presented in nontraditional spaces by enthusiastic and talented young people, designed to help to remove boundaries and broaden horizons, as well as unite and heal the many audience members of this important outreach program. This program is coordinated by OCSA’s Director of Arts Enrichment, Brian Stevens, with the assistance of our talented Conservatory Directors and faculty members. These programs are scheduled throughout the academic year, including weekdays, weekends, evenings, and holidays. Soloists, ensembles and performance groups typically present concerts/performances/workshops of approximately 25-40 minutes in length. OCSA student involvement in the Gluck Community Service Arts Fellowship Program offers them additional performance opportunities, as well as exposure and interaction with different kinds of audiences. In addition to the actual performance, the interaction frequently takes the form of question and answer sessions, and provides the audience information about instruments and music selection, technique, artistic materials, etc. Other student groups teach during their Gluck program presentations — for example, our Wild Things Theatre group brings youngsters from the audience on stage and teaches them to act out a short story and present it to the audience. In summary, the Gluck Community Service Arts Fellowship Program provides enriching experiences that serve many segments of the community, as well as growth and learning opportunities for the students at the Orange County School of the Arts. OCSA has developed a partnership with all of the organizations/schools listed below:

Acacia Adult Day Services

Arts Orange County/Day of the Child

Blind Children’s Lear ning Center

Bowers Museum Santa Ana

Boys and Girls Scouts of Santa Ana

CASA (Youth Advocate) Santa Ana

El Sol Academy

Festival of Children

Fountain Valley Tree Lighting

Girl Scouts

Hands Together

Heninger Village for Seniors Santa Ana

Hollybrook Senior Living Santa Ana

Junior League of Orange County, California

Lazos de Esperanza

Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen in Santa Ana

OC Children’s Book Festival

Orange County Educational Arts Academy (OCEAA)

Orange County Youth Expo

Para Todos Spanish Magazine

Placentia Public Library

Roundtree Gardens

Ronald McDonald Houses

Saint Francis Home Santa Ana

Santa Ana Police Athletic and Academy League

Santa Ana Relay for Life

City of Santa Ana Park, Recreation, and Community Services Agency

Santa Ana Public Library

Seal Beach Health and Rehab Center

Sharing the Holiday Spirit, Costa Mesa

The Raise Foundation

Willard Intermediate School Santa Ana

Wiseplace

Women Making a Difference Event, Santa Ana

Camp OCSA Scholarship Program: This community outreach scholarship program provides free, sponsorsupported arts education courses through OCSA’s CSArts classes to students in grades 4 through 6, who reside in or are attending schools in the City of Santa Ana. The Camp OCSA Scholarship Program provides a positive, nurturing, environment for young people with an interest in the arts and the desire to discover and develop their talents. Classes are designed to introduce local young people with little or no experience in the arts to the basic language, techniques and skills of one of several arts disciplines. This program is offered annually during CSArts Spring Session, over the course of 8 weekend classes. Classes are held on Saturdays from 9:00am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-4:00pm on the campus of Orange County School of the Arts. No audition is required and there is no cost to participate for qualified students. All classes are taught by OCSA faculty and staff, as well as an extended network of OCSA student leaders providing support and mentorship to students.

Dragon Kim Foundation Music Program: The Dragon Kim Foundation Music Program provides free, after-school vocal and instrumental music instruction to economically disadvantaged children in Santa Ana. Each year, the program runs for a total of 16 weeks and serves between 50 and 70 students in grades 4-6. These elementary school students come to OCSA to learn the basics of classical music from professional musicians, teachers, and OCSA student mentors.

CSArts Academy: CSArts Academy provides extracurricular introductory and pre-professional arts and academic training to children throughout the community. Programs are open to students ages 8-15 in the fall, spring, and summer. Under the guidance of OCSA’s renowned educators and master guest artists, CSArts Academy offers unique educational opportunities in a variety of fields for students of all levels.

People Supporting OCSA (PSO): PSO provides an opportunity for parents to stay connected to what’s happening at OCSA by providing the school community with a supportive and collaborative organization for parents, teachers, and staff. PSO helps to: provide resources to the school in order to further enhance students’ academic, artistic, physical, and emotional growth; organize OCSA parents for volunteer efforts; keep parents informed; and solicit parent input regarding school policies. PSO also makes contributions each year for teacher grants in support of school wide initiatives.

Parents Arts Council (PAC): PAC creates volunteer opportunities for parents within their child’s arts conservatory. Each conservatory has its own PAC, managed by the director of the conservatory.

School/Business Relationships

Strategic Partners: OCSA continues to maintain partnerships with institutions of higher education and professional arts organizations throughout Southern California, to ensure access for our students to professional artists, performances and faculty members. Current members of OCSA’s Strategic Partners Advisory Board include: Arts Orange County, Bowers Museum, Chapman University, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, South Coast Repertory, and University of Southern California. A recent example of collaboration with one of our strategic partners is our continuing residency of Pacific Symphony musicians on the OCSA staff, including concertmaster Dennis Kim, principal flutist Ben Smolen, principal bassist Michael Franz, and assistant conductor Jacob Sustaita. These artists in residency work weekly with our students over the 36 weeks of conservatory instructional time and we are thrilled to have them with us. They are able to share their professional experiences, giving our students a realistic perspective into the arts world, offering collaborative opportunities to perform and create together, and providing one-on-one advice for individual student performers in a group format for other students to observe. OCSA also collaborates with Chapman University on a regular basis. On March 26, 2022, OCSA hosted a special 35th anniversary concert, Symphony of Dreams, in the beautiful Musco Center for the Arts on the Chapman University campus.

Conservatory Advisory Councils: Each arts conservatory has an Advisory Council to provide 1) lectures, demonstrations and master classes for our students; 2) on-site visits for students to observe college-level classes and professional operations; 3) internship opportunities for our students; 4) recommendations on meeting admissions guidelines for university and conservatory acceptance; and 5) advice from industry professionals on specific standards to ensure that the skill sets we are teaching our students are current and meet their needs when they have completed their education.

Corporate Relations: OCSA maintains relationships with businesses and major corporations who supply financial as well as in-kind contributions of equipment and expertise to support our students. These corporations include: Advanced Litho (discounted commercial printing services), Balboa Bay Resort (venue sponsor for Season Premiere), Bascom Group (season sponsorship in support of Wind Studies), Farmers & Merchants Bank (season sponsorship), HyperX (donation of eSports computer lab), McKenna Subaru (season sponsorship and featured student performers in a regional television commercial), RED (donation of professional camera equipment), Yamaha (donation of musical instruments and guest musicians for OCSA’s Master Artist Series), and many others.

Arts School Network (ASN): Founded in 1981, ASN serves as a resource for leaders of hundreds of arts schools, arts integration schools and complimentary arts and education organizations. Mr. Teren Shaffer, OCSA’s President and CEO, currently serves as the 1st vice president on the board of directors for this national organization. Mr. Shaffer led the planning of the 2018 national conference, hosted by OCSA. This conference focused on connecting professional arts education leaders with artistically-minded collaborators in an effort to bring together the best and brightest to share their experiences and ideas, as well as exposing these arts leaders to professional level master artists and education experts who could inspire them towards a collective restoration in their arts and education practices. Through ASN, OCSA has the opportunity to collaborate with art schools and organizations around the country, engaging in site visits and exchanging ideas for how best to support our students’ artistic, intellectual, and personal growth.

I.HISTORY AND BACKGROUND (continued)

2.Accreditation History

OCSA entered the WASC self-study process in the 2015-2016 school year to prepare for the next accreditation cycle. During the next school year in Spring 2017, the WASC visiting committee renewed OCSA’s accreditation for another six year term. During the 2019-2020 school year, WASC conducted a mid-cycle visit to check in on progress made towards the school wide action plan. Also during that year, OCSA’s charter authorization moved from the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) to the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE), where the charter is currently in good standing.

VISION STATEMENT

We transform lives by providing a unique and fundamentally different educational experience for students passionate about the arts.

MISSION STATEMENT

We provide an unparalleled arts and academic education in a creative, challenging, and nurturing environment to a diverse student body passionate about the arts, preparing them to reach their highest potential.

CORE VALUES

Student growth and education comes first

Commitment to excellence, innovation, professionalism, and integrity

Foster a nurturing environment of creativity, respect, and collaboration

Commitment to life-long artistic and scholarly development

3.School Purpose

Schoolwide Learner Outcomes

During the 2019-2020 school year, the Schoolwide Learner Outcomes were revised by a committee comprised of OCSA arts and academic staff, with input from a variety of stakeholders. The SLOs represent the most essential goals that our students should know and be able to do by the time they graduate from OCSA. Our SLOs are embedded within each course that the students take and help to provide a focus and continuity for the students’ learning experience.

• Wonder: Exercise curiosity and a sense of play to imagine, question, and challenge

• Communicate: Listen and share ideas clearly and mindfully among diverse groups

• Collaborate: Work together to deepen understanding, build community, and empower others to do the same

• Problem-Solve: Employ various methods of reasoning, perspectives, and sources of knowledge to explore solutions

• Create: Embrace the creative practice of innovation, risktaking, and the evolution of ideas

• Reflect: Practice self-awareness, empathy, and balance to encourage personal growth

I.HISTORY AND BACKGROUND (continued)

LCAP Identified Needs and Description of Goals

OCSA staff, students, parents, and community members participate in a number of surveys annually (sometimes bi-annually) to provide critical feedback of the school’s culture and instructional program (survey data is included later in the profile). Parents also utilize the Parent Support Organization to work with administration on various concerns. This data is used to develop the LCAP goals.

LCAP Goal #1: Raise the number of middle school students meeting CAASPP standards in mathematics by 5%.

Actions:

• Recruit a team of math teachers to research curriculum that supplements general education students’ skill gaps.

• Offer Math 2 and Math 3 intervention courses.

• Provide further training to middle school math teachers to support SPED student mathematics achievement.

• Provide further training to SPED co-teachers and instructional aides to support student mathematics achievement.

LCAP Goal #2: Develop a scalable curriculum to support students with English Learner needs. Implement that curriculum and raise CAASPP ELA scores by 5%.

Actions:

• Recruit and pay 3-4 OCSA ELA teachers to research, write, and develop EL curriculum over the summer of 2022.

• Purchase, implement, monitor, and adjust curriculum. Designate PLC time for adjustment.

LCAP Goal #3: Reduce the number of students categorized as habitually truant (10 or more days of absence) by 5%.

Actions:

• Over the summer of 2022, OCSA will construct a Student Attendance Review Board (SARB) to advise and act on student attendance issues.

• OCSA Administration will restart regular reporting of absences to student families. The regular reporting of absences was suspended during the pandemic. OCSA will continue to utilize all tools and resources for student behavior management.

LCAP Goal #4: Continue to develop, refine, and improve CTE pathways within the OCSA conservatory curriculum.

Actions:

• Provide professional development support to Conservatory Directors to facilitate the creation and further development of CTE courses and pathways.

• Purchase instructional equipment and technology to support CTE curriculum goals in each conservatory.

• Provide continued CTE credentialing coursework to conservatory teachers to obtain CTE credential.

1.Academic Program

Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA), a public charter school located in the heart of Santa Ana, California, provides a six year comprehensive academic and conservatory arts program to students in grades 7 through 12. Established in 1987, OCSA is one of the premier arts schools in the nation where aspiring young artists have the opportunity to refine their skills and flourish in one of fourteen pre-professional arts conservatories. OCSA serves a culturally diverse student body of 2,300 students from 110 cities throughout Southern California. Based on the belief that creative artistry is fueled by intellectual insight, Orange County School of the Arts provides a rigorous college preparatory academic program that produces high achieving, motivated scholars.

OCSA provides a rigorous academic program aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Students attend approximately five hours of academic classes in addition to three hours of daily arts instruction. Students maintain a school-wide Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.3, with the senior class averaging a 3.8 GPA. More than 50% of the senior class earns a 4.0 GPA or higher. The school offers 24 Advanced Placement (AP) classes. OCSA offers one of the most demanding and intensive academic programs in Southern California. In the most recent Niche rankings, OCSA placed first in the statewide charter school rankings.

RTI/SST

Response to Intervention (RTI) is an ongoing process of using student performance and other data to guide instructional and intervention decisions. It uses a problem solving model which is a decision making process to develop and evaluate intervention plans that significantly improve the school performance of individual and/or groups of students. OCSA uses a three-tiered pyramid of intervention to support all students. Tier One is what is already happening in the classroom (regular classroom interventions and differentiation for both struggling and advanced learners). Tier Two is reached when it is determined that more specific interventions need to be implemented based on the individual needs of a student. An SST (Student Study Team) meeting is scheduled with teachers, administration, and parents to discuss interventions that have been implemented and a plan is written for providing more specific interventions to support the student. Tier Three is reached when a child is still not succeeding regardless of the specific interventions implemented in class, at school, and/or at home. Another meeting is scheduled to analyze data and revisit personalized interventions. Students may be referred to Special Education for testing at this level.

Our problem solving model includes the following steps:

1. Define the Problem

2. Develop a Plan

3. Implement the Plan

4. Evaluate

II.SCHOOL PROGRAM DATA (continued)

Special Services

OCSA’s Special Services Department is a fully inclusive general education program that provides support to students with Individualized Education Program (IEPs). A student with special needs will fully participate in the general education program with the use of supplementary support services. Responsibilities of the Mild / Moderate special education teachers include providing support with the general education curriculum and instruction, monitoring student progress, implementing and revising IEP’s, coordinating services, and consulting with parents and staff. Support services may include accommodations; assistive technology; instructional aids/supports; resource specialist services; specialized academic instructional support and related services as deemed appropriate by the IEP Team.

In addition, a 504 Coordinator works with students identified as needing a 504, as well as with those who already have a 504 plan. The coordinator works with families, students, and teachers to brainstorm appropriate and successful accommodations and interventions.

IEPS

II.SCHOOL PROGRAM DATA

Office Hours

Each day, 25 minutes of the academic day are designated for Office Hours. Office hours are designed to provide extended time for all students to access teacher support, make up missed work, retake assessments to demonstrate improved understanding, work on homework, or study.

While OCSA previously mandated Office Hours attendance for any student with a D/F grade or a GPA below a 2.25, Office Hours attendance is now purely voluntary as of the spring 2022 semester. This shift has aimed to reduce the “stigma” associated with Office Hours attendance and to encourage student self-assessment and conversations with teachers to be the driving force for Office Hours. Students are asked to sign into Office Hours each day using a Google Form. In the spring of 2022, students signed into Office Hours nearly 6,000 times; however, anecdotal evidence suggests far more students attended Office Hours but neglected to sign in.

OCSA’s English Learner rate wavers year to year, averaging 0.8% over the past five years. Those students who are identified as English Learners or in need of support in developing their language skills, even if already reclassified, are offered our Read/Write EL class, taught by a credentialed academic teacher. This class typically has less than ten students assigned to it, so students receive individualized, one-to-one support and assistance in the English acquisition and development. Read/Write EL is in addition to their grade-level specific Literature and Composition class.

New Student Orientation/Welcome Week

OCSA holds a New Student Orientation for all incoming students, grades 7-12, the week before school starts. We have implemented the orientation to give families the opportunity to gain an understanding of OCSA’s unique culture and expectations, find where classrooms are located, and give them the opportunity to meet many other new students who are going through the same transition of attending a new school. The administrative team also holds a parent meeting to go over school policies and to answer any questions they may have. This is followed by Welcome Week, held the first week of school. In order to create a positive school culture and integrate new students as quickly as possible, there are daily activities organized by the Conservatories and Leadership students to help students build relationships. New students are partnered with mentors within their Conservatory and complete bonding activities together. New students also get the opportunity to hear from past alumni about their OCSA experience and how it impacted their futures. Lastly, on that Friday, the school holds a festival at the end of the school day with activities, food, and of course, at OCSA, lots of music and dancing. It’s a great way to provide that unique culture and community that OCSA offers right from the beginning, and has the added benefit of “hooking” students so that they are less likely to transfer back to their home districts once the reality of the time commitment of OCSA settles in, especially with our unique position as a commuter school.

Leadership, Student Council, and PAL

Students in OCSA’s Leadership class act and operate as the student body government for the Orange County School of the Arts. To build leadership skills, these 76 10th-12th grade students are engaged in activities that challenge them to problem solve, work collaboratively, engage in communication with multiple aspects of the school community, and provide for an effective and fun work environment for both students and staff. Each member of the Leadership class is assigned a specific initiative each semester that they are responsible for successfully executing; they create a plan, execute the necessary components, and reflect upon the process as well as the product. Student Council consists of student elected representatives at each grade level, with 8th graders representing all of middle school, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and overarching student body presidents. High school student council members are required to be in Leadership, but serve the entire 7th-12th student body and oversee the grade level representatives. Whereas Leadership facilitates events for the entire OCSA community, Student Council focuses on building culture and community amongst students in their specific grades. This allows for age and developmentally appropriate experiences and peer relationships and friendships to build. In addition to Leadership, the 2022-2023 school year is the inaugural year of Peer Assistance & Leadership (PAL), made up of 8th grade students who are of service to our OCSA middle school community and building the #MSquad culture.

Art Attack Live

The Art Attack Live Crew works collaboratively with the support of an advisor to write, edit, and produce a daily broadcast for all students at OCSA. This live broadcast is OCSA’s means of delivering daily information and news to the school body. Students must apply, audition, and meet specific requirements in order to be selected for a position on this team.

2.Conservatory Program

OCSA’s art conservatories are designed to prepare aspiring and talented young artists for a profession in the arts. OCSA’s twenty conservatories/programs are divided into five schools of art: Applied Arts, Dance, Fine & Media Arts, Music, and Theatre. Below is an overview for each of OCSA’s art conservatories/programs.

School of Applied Arts

Culinary Arts & Hospitality: The Mekjian Family Culinary Arts & Hospitality Conservatory offers 9th through 12th grade students advanced training in both culinary arts and hospitality. The program is designed to embrace, nurture, and expand students’ passion for food, creativity, and excellence. Through a challenging, hands-on curriculum, based on leading industry standards and collegiate culinary programs, students are introduced to basic kitchen skills, which they maintain and expand upon throughout their tenure in the program. Students are also exposed to the importance of sanitation standards, world cuisines, baking, pastry, garde manger, food science, nutrition, food history as well as high volume food production and internship opportunities in myriad positions throughout the hospitality industry.

School of Dance

Ballet & Contemporary Dance: The Ballet & Contemporary Dance Conservatory offers 7th through 12th grade students intensive and specialized preprofessional training in a variety of dance styles and disciplines, including ballet, modern, pointe, variations, composition, choreography, dance history, and movement. Over the course of a rigorous four years, students commit themselves to their training and education in a nurturing and disciplined environment. Students are exposed to renowned guest dance instructors, university faculty, and leaders in the professional industry, who visit the campus to share their expertise and creativity through residencies and master classes. The Ballet & Contemporary Dance Conservatory also offers unique and exciting performance opportunities, where students have the chance to demonstrate the artistic skills and talents they have gained throughout their time in the conservatory.

Ballet Folklórico Dance: The Ballet Folklórico Dance Conservatory offers intensive and specialized training in the art of Mexican folk dance, emphasizing technique, body alignment, control, strength, and style. This 7th through 12th grade program is designed to develop well-rounded dancers with a curriculum that includes folklórico technique and repertoire, classical ballet, modern, Flamenco, and Spanish folk dance. Students receive professional training from the esteemed Ballet Folklórico Dance Conservatory faculty.

Ballroom Dance: The Ballroom Dance Conservatory is designed for ambitious 7th through 12th grade dancers, who desire a comprehensive training in the art forms of ballroom and Latin dance. Students explore the diverse rhythms, techniques, and characteristics of the five international ballroom dance styles, the five international Latin dance styles, and the four American smooth dance styles. The Ballroom Dance Conservatory’s faculty consists of wellknown professionals in the industry, including world championship competitors, judges, and studio owners from Southern California, providing students with oneof-a-kind classes and world-class training.

Commercial Dance: The Commercial Dance Conservatory offers 7th through 12th grade students pre-professional training in a wide variety of dance forms and styles. This conservatory is the only program of its kind specially designed to develop wellrounded dancers with the technical skills, discipline, and commitment necessary for a professional career in the dance industry, whether it be in music videos, on stage, on television, or in film, as well as admittance into prestigious university and college dance programs. Master classes featuring distinguished guest artists, university faculty, and leaders in the professional industry are scheduled throughout the school year, which provides students the unique opportunity to establish a working relationship with various internationally renowned choreographers. Intended for serious, mature dancers with a passion for their artistry, the Commercial Dance Conservatory also offers exciting performance opportunities, where students have the chance to demonstrate the artistic skills and talents they have gained throughout their time in the conservatory.

School of Fine & Media Arts

Arts & Enterprise: The Arts & Enterprise Conservatory is a multidisciplinary program that offers students an opportunity to explore a variety of foundational art disciplines and a broad introduction across creative industries. This conservatory provides students who have various levels of arts experience with the exposure and insight to become artists and entrepreneurs. In addition to foundational courses in theatre, fine and media arts, dance, and music, students in the Arts & Enterprise Conservatory have the opportunity to take specialized courses to learn about fields such as entrepreneurship, arts management, business of the arts, and more. Students also participate in classes and community engagement projects, developing and nurturing the skills necessary to be successful in career paths in the arts and beyond.

Creative Writing: The Creative Writing Conservatory is an MFA-modeled course of study that offers students a flexible concentration of classes and writing opportunities. Student-focused and evolving, the workshops and topics present contemporary and classic works side by side to serve as examples of excellent writing. Publishing and performance opportunities are paired with craft study to develop a balanced and accomplished writing student.

Digital Media: The Digital Media Conservatory offers 9th through 12th grade students training in animation, games, design, and media. Using new and emerging technologies, students learn to build narratives, create fantastic characters, and design innovative worlds across a variety of digital and analog platforms. The Digital Media Conservatory encourages learning through immersive instruction, application of experience, and critique. Students are exposed to renowned guest artists and industry leaders, who visit the campus to share their expertise and creativity through lectures, presentations, and handson training. Digital Media students enjoy a rigorous and thoroughly challenging curriculum equivalent to digital media programs at competitive colleges and universities, and use the skills learned throughout their time in the conservatory to solve problems and push the boundaries and overcome challenges.

Film & Television: The Film & Television Conservatory offers students in grades 9 through 12 comprehensive training in film and television production, editing, screenwriting, sound design, cinematography, directing, and producing. Through a rigorous, handson curriculum, faculty members challenge and mentor students to be their best selves, both artistically and individually. Students are encouraged to use their work to demonstrate visual invention and curiosity, collaboration and individual expression, solid technical craftsmanship, and captivating storytelling that creates a thoughtful exploration of the human condition. The Film & Television Conservatory is both a pre-collegiate cinematic arts school and an industry prep program, helping students discover their own cinematic voices through practical training with industry equipment, software, and protocols.

Integrated Arts: The Integrated Arts Conservatory offers a diverse and challenging high-caliber program. Talented faculty members teach the student artists a wide range of subjects from a variety of arts disciplines. This program is open to students in grades 7 through 12 and is designed to provide aspiring artists with an opportunity to explore and actively participate in a multitude of arts classes in a stimulating, creative, and nurturing environment. Each student is exposed to a broad spectrum of the arts, including visual arts, creative writing, musical theatre, pop vocal, acting, production and design, graphic arts, screenwriting, digital photography, and drama therapy.

Visual Arts: The Visual Arts Conservatory offers 7th through 12th grade students the opportunity to learn fine art studio techniques, as well as improve upon existing artistic skills. Students explore both traditional art making methods and innovative, cutting edge art practices. Visual Arts students follow a fixed schedule of core requirement classes during 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Students then have the opportunity to choose college level elective classes during 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. The result is that Visual Arts students build a college-level art portfolio that reflects talent, skill, and professionalism, along with a personal narrative body of work. This program is designed for students who love to make art of any kind, including drawing, painting, ceramics, photography, and graphic design, as well as computer design and computer illustration or animation.

School of Music

Classical Voice: The Classical Voice Conservatory is designed as a college preparatory program focused on vocal arts. This program is ideal for young singers interested in learning about the fundamentals of classical singing and those who may someday choose to pursue a career in singing or music teaching. Modeled after well established collegiate vocal arts programs, the Classical Voice Conservatory curriculum is balanced between performance-focused classes and academic music courses.

Jazz Studies: The Garn Family Jazz Studies Program enables young musicians in grades 7 through 12 to receive a comprehensive music education, while furthering their studies in the art of jazz. The program’s distinguished faculty includes some of today’s top jazz recording artists, educators, and performers. The curriculum is modeled after a university-level jazz conservatory, which includes instruction in big band, small group, theory, composition, arranging, improvisation, masterclasses, and jazz history.

Piano: The Pianist Program augments the training of students in 7th through 12th grades, whose goals include a performing or academic career. In addition to the instrumental music theory, history, and the musical elective curriculum, the Pianist Program offers classes in solo performance training, piano skills and style topics, score and sight-reading, piano ensemble, and chamber music. World-renowned visiting artist teachers offer regular coaching to students in the Piano Masterclass. Among some of the noted artist teachers who have shared their insights with the students, include: Nina Scolnik, John Perry, Lucinda Carver, Steward Gordon, and Norman Krieger.

Popular Music: The Popular Music Conservatory is a commercial and contemporary music program that provides talented and passionate students with a nurturing and empowering environment, promoting musical creativity, musical collaboration, and innovation within the popular music industry. Students learn the art of music performance, music production, arranging, and songwriting through a detailed curriculum enhanced by state-of-the-art technology.

Strings & Orchestra: The Strings & Orchestra Program provides students the opportunity to perform orchestral repertoire of all time periods. All string students, including harpists, are placed in one of the three orchestras. Wind and percussion students audition for chairs. The three orchestras are the top level Symphony Orchestra, the Concert Orchestra, and the 7th and 8th grade String Orchestra. The Symphony and Concert Orchestras are composed primarily of students in grades 9 through 12. However, advanced string and wind players in grades 7 and 8 can audition for one of those orchestras. String students also participate in regular sectionals and masterclasses. The Symphony Orchestra has won national awards for its innovative programming and regularly receives praise for its talent and level of performance.

Wind Studies: The Frederick Fennell Wind Studies Program was created in 2003 by a generous donation from John and Sandy Segerstrom Daniels in honor of legendary wind conductor, Frederick Fennell. The program offers a focused, high-level, quality education to dedicated instrumental music students interested in pursuing advanced studies of wind instruments. Students receive a college-preparatory curriculum, where they take a wide variety of courses, including music theory, musicianship and music history. Students have collaborated with conductors H. Robert Reynolds and Anthony Maiello, and artists such as composer Frank Ticheli.

School of Theatre

Acting: The El-Erian Family Acting Conservatory offers comprehensive acting and movement training to students in grades 7 through 12, who aspire to achieve a career on stage or in film and television. Tailored for young actors interested in advancing their dramatic acting skills, the conservatory encourages its students to develop healthy technique, experience a variety of styles, learn about the history of the craft, and prepare themselves for further study and/or a career in the arts. Students are exposed to renowned guest artists, university faculty, and industry leaders, who visit the school’s campus to share their expertise and creativity through masterclasses, lectures, performances, presentations, and hands-on training. The El-Erian Family Acting Conservatory offers a number of unique and exciting performance opportunities each year, where students have the chance to demonstrate their artistic skills and talents.

Musical Theatre: The Musical Theatre Conservatory offers a rigorous and comprehensive course of study for serious musical theatre students in grades 7 through 12, who aspire to achieve a career on stage, in film and television, or in the recording arts. Students are exposed to classes in a variety of styles, including acting technique, vocal technique, vocal performance, audition technique, musical theatre history, keyboard, music theory, musicianship, pop vocal, stage movement and combat, and stage makeup. Each year, the conservatory offers a number of unique and exciting performance opportunities, where students have the chance to demonstrate the artistic skills and talents they have gained throughout their time in the program. Musical Theatre Conservatory students are provided with one-of-a-kind opportunities to meet, work with, and learn from renowned guest artists and alumni, university faculty, and industry leaders.

Production & Design: The Production & Design Conservatory offers students in grades 7 through 12 the opportunity to study the arts and crafts used in the entertainment industry. For every performer on stage, there are several artists working behind the scenes. Under the direction of industry professionals, students in the Production & Design Conservatory are transformed into these behind-the-scenes artists, taking courses in scenery, costumes, makeup, lighting, audio, props, stage management, theatre history, and acting. Production & Design faculty members are committed to developing well-rounded theatre artists, who understand both the practical and the theoretical aspects of the process of design, as well as construction and implementation. These learning goals are accomplished through the conservatory’s extensive course curriculum, laboratory experiences, and production assignments.

3.Professional Development Programs

Mentorship Program

Although OCSA is largely recognized as an arts school, the students’ curiosity, creativity and brilliant minds often take them well beyond the artistic world. Graduates of the school have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers and much more. OCSA students have many opportunities in addition to their regular studies and performances, including the chance to explore any area of professional interest before graduation through OCSA’s Professional Mentorship Program. The OCSA Professional Mentorship Program allows students to explore an interest in various career paths by partnering them with a mentor who is successful in a particular field. Once an OCSA student has been paired with an expert in their field of interest, mentors meet with them several times throughout the year. Each meeting allows the student to dive deeper into their interests and passions with the guidance and experience of their mentor. Students also have the opportunity to shadow their mentor at their place of work to get a glimpse of what it is like to work in their respective fields. The caliber of mentors chosen provides students with inspiration, networking opportunities, real-life situational experience, and guidance in navigating career options to find their desired path.

Guest Artist Visits and Residencies

OCSA students are exposed to nationally renowned guest artists, university faculty, and industry leaders, who visit the campus throughout the year to share their expertise and creativity through residencies, master classes, lectures, performances, presentations, and hands-on training. The 2021-22 school year provided students with the opportunity to learn from many wonderful outside professionals.

Performing with the Pros: This annual event is a three-week master class in which a guest artist works with 3545 of our Music & Theatre students to develop a fully staged production, featuring pieces from the guest artist, the students, and the combined cast. Past Performing with the Pros guest artists have included alumnae Krysta Rodriguez, Susan Egan, and Lindsay Mendez, and Broadway stars Terri Bibb, Jason Robert Brown, Ali Stroker, and Karen Culliver, among many others. This year’s PWTP performance marks the 19th anniversary of the program and was held February 4-5, 2022. It featured artist-in-residence David Burnham. Best known for originating the role of Fiyero in the popular musical “Wicked,” Burnham was also an original cast member in “The Light in the Piazza,” performing both on the Tony Awards and the PBS telecast “Live From Lincoln Center.” He replaced Donny Osmond as Joseph in the national tour of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Acclaimed for his “dazzling singing” and “infectious energy” (The Hollywood Reporter), Burnham also performs solo and with symphonies across the nation.

Master Artist Series: At OCSA, we strive to provide our young artist scholars not only with the education needed to succeed in the professional artistic field of their choice, but also with real-life knowledge only attainable through hands-on experience. Originally launched as part of OCSA’s 30th Anniversary celebration, the Master Artist Series has grown to become one of the school’s most important instructional initiatives. Through this one-of-a-kind program, master artists and industry leaders share their gifts, career stories, and expertise with OCSA students through residencies, master classes, lectures, and performances. Some of the outstanding Master Artists we have welcomed to campus this year alone include Sean Lee, violinist at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; Sophia James, renowned pop singer and American Idol contestant; Ryan Gattis, author of award-winning novels All Involved and Safe; Andrew Cedar, Grammy- and Golden Globe-nominated pop music producer and writer; Louis Van Amstel, professional ballroom dance champion; Michael Repper, Grammy-nominated musician and conductor; Matthew Morrison, Tony-, Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actor; Vince Terusa, executive chef at the award-winning Selanne Steak Tavern; Carlos Grangel, owner of Grangel Studio and character designer for Hotel Transylvania and The Prince of Egypt; Brian Peterson, Orange County muralist and creator of The Faces of Santa Ana; Joe Dulude II, Emmy-nominated makeup designer; and many others. This dynamic program would not be possible without the generosity of sponsors and supporters.

Creators & Innovators Series: The Creators & Innovators Series engages influential and accomplished thought leaders in a forum designed to inspire, enlighten, inform, and entertain. Committed to serving students in our community, the OCSA Foundation has developed this series as a vehicle to connect young people, business professionals, and active change-makers from a variety of fields. Topics have included “OC Meets the Global Economy” and “Brand Innovators.” This series has hosted leaders from Hyundai, Live Nation Entertainment, Vans, Taco Bell, OC Business Journal, and more.

Other Guest Artists and Master Teachers: Each of OCSA’s 20 arts conservatories brings in a variety of talented guest artists, master teachers and industry leaders throughout the course of the school year. During the 2021-2022 school year, our Artists in Residence include:

• Dennis Kim, acclaimed concertmaster and leader of the Pacific Symphony

• Sandra Rabins, animation and live-action film executive with credits including Toy Story and The Joy Luck Club

• Benjamin Smolen, principal flute for Pacific Symphony

• David Burnham, award-winning Broadway performer and recording artist

• Michael Franz, principal bass for Pacific Symphony

Actor’s Showcase

The Actor’s Showcase is a unique and invaluable opportunity open to all OCSA students who want to gain visibility and access to agents, managers, and casting directors in the Los Angeles area. The intent is to connect our students with industry professionals who can help facilitate the next step in their careers. Participating students perform high-quality, thoroughly rehearsed scenes for a select audience of industry professionals. There is no other middle or high school that provides an opportunity like this in the country. For the first eight years, Actor’s Showcase was presented in-person at a venue in Los Angeles. More than 80 high-level industry professionals attended, including representatives from CBS, NBC, Sony Pictures, CW Television, Warner Bros, Disney, Osbrink, Abrams Artists Agency, Mavrick Artists Agency, and many more. The majority of cast members are invited to take industry meetings following the showcase and many secure industry representation. For the past two years, due to the pandemic, Actor’s Showcase has been virtual, providing us the opportunity for wider distribution. The virtual presentation is professionally filmed, packaged, and distributed to industry professionals through an online portal. For the past nine years, the showcase has been directed by Rick Messina (OCSA alumnus, Class of 1995), who has been working in casting for more than 15 years. He has cast movies and television shows for Amazon, Netflix, STARZ, Sony, TBS, FOX, CBS, Comedy Central, Disney, and many others.

4.Staff Development Teacher Development

Although OCSA is largely recognized as an arts school, the students’ curiosity, creativity and brilliant minds often OCSA has a unique situation in that most of our students want to be at this school. They have applied and auditioned to attend. Compared to some other high schools, discipline problems are minimal at OCSA. Additionally, both our students and their parents have extraordinary expectations of engaging and meaningful lessons daily. Therefore, teaching at OCSA involves an exceptional commitment to excellence. Our teachers work in a quality-charged environment with high expectations to deliver and use the best instructional strategies on a consistent basis.

With these high expectations, it is important for the success of our teachers to offer a professional development plan that supports as well as challenges them to grow. New research on instructional practices must be examined and implemented. Curriculum must be aligned with a variety of standards: AP Frameworks, Common Core, State Content Standards, 21st Century Skills, College and Career Readiness, Next Generation Science Standards, etc. Essential learnings must be identified for each unit. Assessments must be valid and used to inform instruction. Through self-reflection and the support of collaboration, these practices become the goal of each teacher. Teachers’ success in increasing student achievement is fueled by their passion to perfect their craft. Our professional growth plan is designed to promote self-efficacy through reflection, goal setting, and collaboration.

Our plan is based on the following 12 principles from the National Staff Development Council. Professional Development must:

1. Fit naturally with our school goals.

2. Provide a consistent focus and ongoing training and assistance.

3. Create a collective commitment among teachers to deepen their content knowledge and to learn and use research-based instructional practices.

4. Provide time and opportunities for groups of teachers to meet regularly in order to share, reflect, and work together on instruction.

5. Empower teachers to make decisions about their own professional learning needs.

6. Be relevant and useful to the situations teachers face each day in the classroom.

7. Provide a way for teachers to learn and grow in a supportive atmosphere.

8. Honor the knowledge and skills of teachers.

9. Provide teachers with a process for addressing student diversity, individualizing instruction, and holding high expectations for all students.

10. Engage teachers in using multiple sources of data to determine student needs.

11. Provide continuing opportunities to grow professionally at the school site.

12. Engage teachers in spending greater amounts of time in professional development.

Description of the Practice

The teachers at the Orange County School of the Arts develop their own individual professional growth plan each year. These professional growth plans are supported throughout the year in curriculum teams, professional learning communities, school-wide professional development activities, administrator walk-throughs, and the Induction (formerly BTSA) Program for new teachers.

The teachers create their own professional development plan by:

• Reflecting on their individual areas of growth by looking at the California Standards for the Teaching Profession.

• Analyzing and discussing the data obtained from common assessments and state testing within curriculum teams to see the areas of need of their students.

• After analyzing the individual teacher and students needs, the teachers use a Goals/Action/Assessment Plan chart to develop their individual plan.

This plan includes the following:

• One professional growth goal, set individually or in PLCs, which aligns to OCSA’s professional evaluation standards and the year’s professional development focus.

• A description of activities which will help reach these goals.

• The evidence to be used to show if the goals were reached.

• Support from a professional growth group, which is an interdisciplinary team of teachers with similar growth goals.

• After the plan is implemented, teachers analyze the evidence collected, assess the effectiveness of the plan, and set follow-up goals.

Every Friday morning, time is allocated for the staff to meet in curriculum teams or professional learning communities to discuss, articulate, and coordinate the execution of the standards-based instructional program. Staff meetings are held approximately every six weeks and are used to discuss curricular and student-learning issues that affect the whole staff, as well as to allow opportunities for best practices to be shared by individual teachers. During curriculum team meetings, teachers in all disciplines develop common goals and work on vertical alignment. Curriculum team meetings are also used to develop cornerstone or benchmark assessments that are collaboratively graded.

PLCs are organized around similar subject areas or skills. This time is used to particularly focus on the four key questions of Professional Learning Communities:

1. What is it we want all students to learn?

2. How will we know when each student has mastered the essential learning?

3. How will we respond when a student experiences initial difficulty in learning?

4. How will we deepen the learning for students who have already mastered essential knowledge and skills?

5. Through these discussions, teachers have become more focused on common curriculum. Common assessments have assured that students are receiving the same content and are held to the same rigorous standards across all classrooms.

OCSA is part of a consortium through the Orange County Department of Education’s Induction Program (formerly BTSA). It is important to our school-wide professional development plan that the Induction Program is integrated into what we do, therefore our professional development plan runs parallel to what Induction participants must do. Goal setting, mid-year reflections, and end of the year reflections are coordinated with Induction’s timeline.

Administrators observe teachers informally several times a year, providing feedback when appropriate. The purpose of these observations is to support the reflective practices of our teachers. E-mails or conversations provide feedback based on reflective questions posed from decision points made by teachers. These reflective questions are about choices the teachers make in instruction: What were the criteria the teacher used to group students as they did? What choices did the teacher make in his lesson design based on the content standards? What criteria did the teacher use to decide to introduce one skill before another? The emphasis is always on self-evaluation by the individual teachers rather than by an administrator.

Formal observations and evaluations occur on a biennial basis for permanent, satisfactory teachers. All new teachers are formally evaluated annually until they reach permanent status, and any teachers on a performance improvement plan (PIP) must be formally evaluated annually until they reach satisfactory status. The evaluation process was developed in tandem with the executive leadership of OCSA’s teachers union (OCSATA) and includes the following components:

• The teacher and administrator collaboratively determine an appropriate date/time/lesson for the formal observation. They may also hold a pre-observation meeting to discuss the goals and plan for the lesson.

• The administrator observes the teacher for a minimum of 45 minutes, documenting teacher moves, student responses, and evidence of student learning.

• In a post-observation meeting, the teacher and administrator debrief the observation and collaboratively discuss the teacher’s abilities in each of OCSA’s evaluation standards:

♦ Subject Matter and Content

♦ Supportive Challenge and Rigor

♦ Equitable Access to Content

♦ Agency, Ownership, and Identity

♦ Assessment of Thinking and Learning

♦ Professional Responsibilities

• If the teacher’s evaluation is unsatisfactory, a second observation may be held to gather additional evidence. New teachers and teachers on a PIP are also observed at least twice per year.

• Teachers who are unsatisfactory in multiple areas may be placed on a performance improvement plan to support their growth throughout the following year.

Results of the Practice

The results of OCSA’s professional development plan are high quality teachers who are lifelong learners. Curriculum leads are rotated triennially so that no one teacher is carrying the load alone. Our teaching staff is truly a community of learners. There is a collective commitment to the goals they have set forth.

On our spring 2022 stakeholder survey, 95% of parents and 91% of students agreed or strongly agreed that the academic instruction at OCSA challenges students to think. 96% of parents and 83% of students agreed or strongly agreed that the academic experience at OCSA is relevant and meaningful. 93% of parents and 75% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend OCSA’s academic program to other families and friends. This data is a direct reflection of the growth and excellence of our academic teachers.

The purpose of all professional development is to increase student learning. At OCSA, the staff conscientiously fosters a positive attitude toward and a respect for life-long learning. This climate is not only reflected in its essential documents (SLOs, vision statement, mission statement), but in the daily operations as well. The results of teacher professional development are transferred directly to our students. OCSA is a colony of artists taught by classroom pedagogical artisans. These students are wildly creative, talented, and undeniably unique. Creative energy emanates from these students in a way that is contagious. OCSA teachers know how to capitalize on this energy to guide students in their pursuit of knowledge. State testing scores are evidence of this success. We typically have a 100% graduation rate, and our graduates continue to be recruited by the nation’s top universities and arts conservatory programs. These statistics reflect the results of a highly skilled staff encouraging and facilitating the learning of a unique group of artists.

II. SCHOOL PROGRAM DATA

Counseling Development

Although OCSA is largely recognized as an arts school, the students’ curiosity, creativity and brilliant minds often The mission of the OCSA School Counseling Program is to foster a healthy school culture and environment that nurtures and inspires all students to achieve their highest individual potential both academically and artistically by addressing their academic, college/career, personal/social and emotional/mental-health development. OCSA Counselors collaborate with other educational leaders, parents/guardians, and community members to advocate for equitable access to a rigorous education, in order to prepare all students to graduate college-and-career-ready as creative problem-solvers, responsible lifelong learners, and multiculturally appreciative citizens.

Vision Statement

All OCSA students benefit from a comprehensive School Counseling Program, driven by student data and based on the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model supporting:

• Academic development

• College/career development

• Personal, social, emotional/mental-health development

To ensure that all students are supported and encouraged to reach their highest potential the OCSA School Counseling Program combines the use of:

• Classroom guidance lessons

• Small group counseling sessions

• Individual student planning meetings

As both academically and artistically high-achieving learners and performers, OCSA students graduate:

• College-and-Career-Ready

• Well-prepared to meet the challenges of a global, multicultural, 21st century workforce

• With creative, problem-solving skills and a passion for lifelong learning

As a team, in collaboration with other educators, families, and community members, the OCSA Counselors ensure all students become productive citizens who achieve their fullest potential — academically, occupationally, personally, socially, and emotionally — making a lasting positive impact on our school and the greater community.

Current Action Plan

The School Counseling Program has worked in conjunction with key stakeholder groups to meet each semester in order to evaluate their program, set goals, and use their recent professional development and collaboration to implement the following action plan.

• Collaboration Goal: Increase collaboration with Conservatory Directors to create lists of colleges with strong conservatory-specific art programs.

♦ Mindset Standards 4 & 5 and Behavior Standards for Learning Strategies 10.

• Achievement Goal: Maintain our high (100%) graduation rate, maintain our high college-acceptance (2-year and 4-year) rate (98%+), and increase our current college-ready/college-eligible rate (90%+).

♦ Mindset Standards 4, 5, & 6 and Behavior Standards for Learning Strategies 3, 6, 7 & 8 and Self-Management Skills 4, 5, & 8.

♦ By the end of the school year, 100% of the class of 2016 will graduate on time, at least 98% will apply and be accepted to a post-secondary institution, and at least 90% will be UC/CSU eligible by completing their A-G college entrance requirements.

• Achievement Goal: Increase the percentage (88% for 2015 graduates) of students challenging themselves by taking rigorous classes including completing at least 1 Honors or 1 AP course by the time they graduate.

♦ Mindset Standard 2 and Behavior Standards for Learning Strategies 3, 6, & 8 and Self-Management Skills 2 & 5.

♦ By the end of the school year, 90% of the class of 2016 will graduate having successfully passed at least 1 Honors/AP course.

• Attendance Goal: Decrease the percentage (23% for 2014-2015) of students who are chronically absent.

♦ Mindset Standards 1 & 3 and Behavior Standards for Self-Management Skills 1, 3, 7, 8, & 9.

♦ By the end of the school year, the number of students who have been absent for 10 or more full-days will decrease from 23% (2014-2015) to 20% or less.

• Closing the Gap Goals: Increase the “success” rate of New OCSA students and increase the “success” rate of students receiving Special Services.

♦ Mindset Standards 2 & 3 and Behavior Standards for Learning Strategies 3, 6, & 7; Self-Management Skills 6, 7, & 10; and Social Skills 3, 4, & 8

♦ By the end of the school year, the percentage (11% for 2014-2015) of New OCSA High School Students earning “D”/”F” grades will decrease to 9% or less and Middle School “D”/”F” grades will decrease from 6% (2014-2015) to 4% or less.

♦ By the end of the school year, the percentage of High School students with IEP/504 Plans passing all of their classes (83% for 2014-2015) will increase to 85% or higher and the percentage of Middle School students with IEP/504 Plans passing all of their classes (90% in 2014-2015) will increase to 93% or higher.

♦ Also, the percentage (61% for 2015 graduates) of seniors with IEP/504 Plans graduating college-ready (completing the A-G subject requirements with “C” grades or higher) will increase to 65% or higher.

COUNSELOR CASELOADS 2016-2022

II. SCHOOL PROGRAM DATA

5. Co-curricular and Extra-curricular Activities

National Honor Society

The NHS Chapter at OCSA comprises a large number of highly accomplished and enthusiastic community leaders who have a passion for service. NHS provides the opportunity for outstanding students to reach out to their community by participating in an array of service projects, ranging from planting and weeding at a nature preserve to visiting seniors in community retirement homes. Students that are selected for NHS have met the prerequisite of maintaining a minimum 3.5 academic GPA. Furthermore, students have previous experience with community service and have demonstrated qualities of leadership and character that are highlighted through letters of recommendation submitted on their behalf. NHS membership at OCSA continues to rise.

California Scholarship Federation

The California Scholarship Federation was established to promote and recognize the high standards of scholarship, service, and citizenship on the part of students in California Schools. CSF membership requires that a student submit an application at the beginning of each semester reflecting the previous semester’s grades. To secure eligibility, a student must earn sufficient points from the pre-approved course list. Points are earned based on letter grades of only A’s or B’s received and students can earn up to two additional points for honors level AP level courses. At OCSA, our CSF members volunteer their time to tutor their peers in academic subjects. During Office Hours, our tutors work in various classrooms to provide more individualized support to students who need additional help in their academic classes. CSF membership at OCSA continues to rise.

Clubs

Monday through Friday at lunch, any OCSA student can find a club that suits their interests. With meetings in classrooms across campus, OCSA is home to over 130 diverse clubs, with focuses ranging from philanthropic to social to academic and artistic. OCSA features a plethora of hard working, service-based clubs. These clubs can raise awareness and money for their various causes through participating in club-based events like Taste of OCSA, or by applying to hold their own individual event or sale. Students can also find many clubs that appeal to their artistic side. Young actors can enjoy OCSA’s chapter of the internationally-known Thespian Society, where they learn to hone their craft and also can compete in statewide festivals. There are also clubs to suit academic purposes, such as our award-winning Mock Trial team, Junior State of America (JSA), Spanish Honor Society, French Honor Society, Science Olympiad, National Honors Society, and California Scholarship Federation. There are numerous clubs dedicated to social issues, like the Gender Sexuality Alliance or Diversify Our Narrative. Clubs based in culture and religion are popular as well, like the Black Student Union, Taiwanese Culture Club, or Asian Students Association. Many clubs cater to common interests, like the eSports Club, Cosplay Club, or Crochet for a Cause.

Specialized Student Performance Groups

Ballroom Blitz: Ballroom Blitz is a group of up and coming ballroom and Latin dancers from OCSA’s Ballroom Dance Conservatory. The members of this elite performing group compete at prestigious DanceSport events throughout the year, such as the California Open and the Hollywood DanceSport Classic. These dancers bring the excitement of competitive ballroom and Latin dance to intimate theatrical venues throughout the community.

Bel Canto Singers: Bel Canto Singers is an operatic performing group of top level classical singers from OCSA’s Classical Voice Conservatory. The group performs a variety of operatic literature by various composers including Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Georges Bizet and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In addition to traditional classical repertoire, our Bel Canto Singers also perform varied repertoire from classical musical theatre and cabaret. These talented young singers are a unique addition to any event. The Bel Canto Singers have performed for the International Committee for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Italian Consulate General, Sons of Italy, the annual Festival of Children™, and more.

Las Estrellas: Las Estrellas de OCSA is a Ballet Folklorico and Flamenco performance group featuring some of the most talented students from the school’s Ballet Folklorico Dance Conservatory. Performing traditional and authentic Mexican folk dances representing the country’s vibrant history, as well as flamenco and classical dances of Spain, Las Estrellas dancers have been invited to perform at both private and community events throughout Orange County.

Instrumental Musicians:

• Classical and Contemporary Chamber Instrumentalists feature a variety of talented student string musicians who perform professional-level musical stylings of both classical and contemporary tunes. Repertoire can provide upbeat background music or even serve as the featured performance for events such as weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs.

• Jazz Instrumental Combos provide an easy, upbeat or intellectually provocative atmosphere for your event, as background or main act. Jazz repertoire can include standards from the last sixty-plus years.

• Classical Pianists can provide a unique and inspiring ambience, performing classical repertoire encompassing great piano literature dating from 1700 to present time. The classical music performance is tailored to meet the specific needs of your event, featuring award-winning students from OCSA’s Pianist Program.

MONTAGE!: MONTAGE! is an interdepartmental performing group featuring students in grades 7-12 auditioned from each of the school’s arts conservatory programs. MONTAGE! has been highlighted at a variety of community and private events, including the South Coast Plaza Tree Lighting Ceremony and special events for Kaiser Permanente, Coast Magazine, CHOC, and Farmers & Merchants Bank. MONTAGE! has an impressive and diverse pre-existing repertoire. MONTAGE! offers a 45-minute scripted holiday performance, contemporary a cappella holiday tunes, contemporary pop tunes, a cappella pop selections, various Great American Songbook options, a contemporary string quartet and coffee house style acoustic set. BOOM! is an upbeat urban street band, which features many of OCSA’s celebrated brass players and percussionists. BOOM! will be performing upbeat contemporary tunes and will be completely acoustic. MONTAGE! can also create original repertoire specifically for private parties or events, including everything from one customized number to a fully staged production. MONTAGE! has been highlighted at a variety of community and private events, including: Disneyland Resort, South Coast Plaza Tree Lighting, Balboa Bay Club Tree Lighting, and special events for Access Destination Services, Edwards Life Sciences, El Niguel Country Club, Newport Beach Country Club, Oasis Center International, Orange County Business Council, Vans, and Young Presidents’ Organization, to name a few.

Post MONTAGE! Jukebox: Post MONTAGE! Jukebox rearranges popular contemporary tunes into the style of your favorite vintage genres, including swing and jazz. THese groups are sure to impress with their unique arrangements and sophisticated presence.

Unplugged Holiday Carolers: Unplugged Holiday Carolers is an a cappella singing group made up of some of the school’s best and brightest vocalists. This group offers ear-pleasing harmonies in wonderful arrangements created specifically for the group. Unplugged Holiday Carolers can perform as the featured entertainment at your holiday event, offering up to 20 minutes of unrepeated unique caroling material, or repeating it as necessary to fill up longer spans of time (up to three hours, depending on the event and number of people). Unplugged Holiday Carolers add the perfect background ambience to your occasion and can stroll throughout the event or greet guests as they arrive at your special occasion. Please note the carolers must be given a ten minute break for each hour of caroling.

6.Financial Support

As a public charter school, OCSA’s funding model is unique. Like any other public school, OCSA’s academic program is paid for by state money, including ADA, etc. In this current school year, 2022-2023, OCSA will spend a total of $18,500 per student. OCSA rigorously campaigns for parent, foundation, philanthropist, and industry donations to fund the arts programs.

OCSA has implemented programs to help support our lower income families. The Foundation Office has a program called the Artist Scholar Sponsorship. They raise funds to support qualified students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds in their art conservatory. Our PSO (Parent Support Organization) also designates funds to help lower income families with graduation, dances, and yearbook costs. In addition, our FRLP (Free and Reduced Lunch Program) assists families in need with their lunch on a daily basis. Over the past six years, our FRLP participation has fluctuated between 3% and 8%. The dip in 2020-2021 may be attributed to the fact that most students completed their studies entirely from home that year due to the pandemic, so they may have been less motivated to enroll in the FRLP program.

FREE AND REDUCED-PRICE MEALS

1.Student Enrollment

OCSA’s total enrollment for the 2021-2022 school year averaged to 2,200 students over the year; a longitudinal review indicates that enrollment has slightly increased over the past five years.

Enrollment by Grade

OCSA’s enrollment by grade for the 2021-2022 school year was:

• 7th grade: 254

• 8th grade: 292

• 9th grade: 421

• 10th grade: 440

• 11th grade: 400

• 12th grade: 410

Longitudinal data shows that OCSA generally maintains approximately 250-300 students per grade in middle school and approximately 400-450 students per grade in high school. Most of our new students enroll in either 7th or 9th grade.

Enrollment by Gender

In the 2021-2022 school year, the student population was 69.1% female, 30.3% male, and 0.6% nonbinary. While we lack longitudinal data for our nonbinary population, OCSA’s male: female ratio has remained fairly consistent over the years.

Enrollment by Ethnic Group

In the 2021-2022 school year, the ethnic breakdown of the student population was:

• 28.9% White

• 26.8% Asian or Pacific Islander

• 20.6% Hispanic/Latino

• 12.9% multi-ethnic

• 2.0% Filipino

• 1.0% Black

• 0.1% American Indian / Alaska Native

A longitudinal review of the ethnic distribution data show that the number of Asian students has increased substantially, whereas our Hispanic/Latino and White populations have decreased. However, we’ve also seen a dramatic increase in the number of families choosing not to disclose their ethnic identity, making it harder to assess these demographic trends.

III.DEMOGRAPHIC DATA (continued)

Ethnic Diversity

Language Proficiency

The English language learner population at OCSA continues to remain at a relatively small number, but is trending upward overall, breaking 1% of the population in three of the past four years. Our EL students are offered enrollment in a Read/Write EL class in addition to their regular language arts classes. Mandarin speakers are consistently the largest subgroup within our EL population, followed by Korean and Spanish speakers. The percentage of Mandarin- and Korean-speaking ELs has increased while the percentage of Spanish-speaking ELs has decreased over time; these trends mimic enrollment patterns.these demographic trends.

EL and RFEP Students

English Language

Acquisition Status

Languages of English Learners

2.Attendance and Discipline

Student attendance is a necessary component of academic and social success at OCSA. A school-wide attendance policy allows teachers and administration to work together to ensure that students are present. Because OCSA is a specialized commuter school, we recognize that attendance can be a challenge for our students. To support the positive behavior that OCSA hopes for from students, the school began a Positive Behavior Intervention Program which provides students the opportunity to reflect on their attendance patterns and brainstorm interventions to help them moving forward. OCSA communicates with parents regularly about student attendance in an effort to inform the parents and receive assistance in students being present. Students with frequent absences may be placed on an Attendance Contract outlining attendance expectations and possible consequences for excessive absences.

Due to OCSA’s support systems and students’ commitment to the OCSA program, attendance rates have remained around 95% or higher. Attendance rates peaked during the 2020-2021 school year, likely due to distance learning and the convenience of being able to attend class from home.

Number of Students Leaving Each Year

Because OCSA is a commuter school and students travel from over 100 different cities around southern California, some families feel that the commute is too burdensome and/or they realize their home school is a better fit. For the past six years, leave rates have dropped overall, from around 5% to under 3%. Students who choose to return to their home school usually leave within the first two weeks of school.

Discipline

Students at OCSA are expected to demonstrate that they understand the school wide behavior policies and regulations. The staff at OCSA is confident that our standards for student conduct will teach our students to accept responsibility for their actions and will develop respectful attitudes towards themselves and others. The majority of student referrals continue to be for tardies.

In the fall of 2017, OCSA implemented a Positive Behavior Intervention and Support Program to foster a spirit of reflection and collaboration between students, parents, counselors and their administrative team regarding student behavior. Students’ progress through various levels of Behavior Intervention depending on the number of demerits they have required; each intervention level requires students to complete a reflection form and meet with their counselor to discuss their reflection. By completing reflections and meeting with their counselor, students are able to have demerits removed from their records.

The number of suspensions increased from 2016-2019. Looking more closely at the specific suspendable offenses, the number of suspensions resulting from possession or use of tobacco products and possession, sales or use of a controlled substance increased the most. In an effort to raise awareness and deter students from engaging in these suspendable offenses, all students were required to sign a Tobacco and Drug Free Campus Policy document at on campus registration; tobacco-related suspensions dropped to zero thereafter. From 2020 onward, suspension rates dropped dramatically; this is likely due to the school closure in March 2020 and throughout most of the 2020-2021 school year. Suspension data by ethnic group suggests that the majority of students suspended have consistently been White. However, Hispanic/Latino students have consistently been suspended at higher rates than their enrollment percentage, with the exception of our distance learning year.

*The following ethnic groups were not included due to insufficient sample size: American Indian /

Pacific Islander.

3.Parent Education Level

Nearly half of all OCSA parents have a graduate degree, and over 90% have completed college. By comparison, in the surrounding city of Santa Ana, only 16.8% of the adult population has completed college according to 2021 census data. This reveals a discrepancy between our school population and the community in which our school resides.

4.School Safety, Cleanliness, and Facilities

The Orange County School of the Arts continues to refine the comprehensive school safety plan as the campus expands, in order to ensure a safe school environment for our students. Our plan is evaluated yearly and amended, as needed.

Our unique building design, a seven-story tower, three-story annex, and two-story dance, music, and science building has been proactively addressed in the block scheduling. Each eighty-five-minute class is followed by either a nutrition break, lunch break, or tutorial opportunity. This minimizes the pressure of getting up or down the stairs, and finding time to use the restroom facilities for the students.

Each school year begins with a review of important information where the school personnel are introduced, the behavior standards are explained, the dress code is reiterated, the zero tolerance policy is discussed, and the demerit system laid out. This information also appears in the individual student school handbook, which students and parents are required to sign, and some pertinent information is also available in the employee handbook. Each teacher distributes a classroom syllabus, which clearly addresses both curriculum and classroom discipline plans.

Site administration has coordinated with public safety officers in creating an emergency plan. Fire drills are regularly conducted. OCSA has a closed campus policy and all visitors are required to sign in at the information desk and wear a visitor’s badge. Students do not leave campus without being signed out by a parent. Campus security personnel are on duty throughout the campus during school hours. The school utilizes surveillance cameras covering interior and exterior portions of the campus, electronic door locks that are only accessible by staff fobs, as well as an access control system to monitor who is entering our campus buildings during off-hours. Staff members that are critical to emergency procedures on campus are familiar with their roles and responsibilities in the event of an incident on campus. Our front desk is staffed and able to answer parent and student phone calls and questions. This is the central information point of our school.

Our safety support staff consists of two part-time health clerks, four campus security officers, one part-time campus supervisor, attendance clerks, and custodians. Each day during lunch, students who need to work off demerits, pick up trash. This serves the dual purpose of alleviating the workload of our busy custodians.

Our school has 9 buildings which house over 100 rooms that can be utilized for instruction. Wifi is available across

campus to staff members and for the use of school-issued devices, such as Chromebooks. Three full-time techsupport staff keep the school network, labs, event and work spaces operational. OCSA also has two professional theaters, one black box, and one television production studio. There are also 10 science labs, 16 dance studios, 2 recording studios, 3 piano labs, 5 graphic-design computer labs, 2 photography labs, and a ceramics studio.

The school employs 6 full-time maintenance and custodial staff. The OCSA campus is cleaned daily and all routine maintenance is performed by this staff. The campus appears clean and well maintained throughout the school year. Each summer, a variety of maintenance and repair tasks are scheduled including: painting, carpet replacement and other improvements to the facility. In each year’s budget, funds are allocated to support the long-term equipment and capital needs of the school.

5. Staff Description

OCSA staff consists of 1 President and Chief Executive Officer, 1 Chief Operations Officer, 81 academic teachers, 25 elective teachers, 203 conservatory teachers, 20 conservatory directors and assistant directors, 13 members of the administrative team (Principal, Assistant Principal of Instruction, Assistant Principal of Student Services, Assistant Principal of the Arts, Assistant Principal of Special Services, Assistant Principal of Facilities & Supervision, 6 School Counselors, and Learning Specialist), 25 non-teaching special services staff, 3 licensed vocational nurses, and 35 classified staff. The academic faculty is fully credentialed, and the majority of the 300+ arts and academic teachers hold advanced degrees. No teacher holds a Short Term Staff or Provisional Intern Permit.

OCSA maintains a relatively young teaching staff compared to the district average. The academic teaching staff is approximately 2/3 female and 1/3 male, which mirrors the gender distribution of the student population. The ethnic breakdown of the certificated staff, however, is not representative of the student population. Whereas our student population is approximately 29% White, our teaching staff is closer to 80% White. One of the primary objectives of the school’s Antiracism and Inclusion Coalition is to revise hiring practices to ensure that more BIPOC teachers and staff are hired and can contribute to the conversations happening around instruction and student support.

Teachers By Full-Time Equivalent

Teachers By Ethnicity

Average Teaching Experience

Teachers By Gender

Per Pupil Ratio: Administrators

Induction: OCSA is part of a consortium through the Orange County Department of Education, partnering with 11 other districts working collaboratively together to support their new teachers. Beginning teachers receive support from an onsite mentor in their first two years of teaching. The Induction Program (formerly BTSA) utilizes the New Teacher Learning Center and is based on the California Standards for the Teaching Profession. This program is designed for teachers to earn their clear credential while developing skills as a professional educator. The number of teachers being supported and support providers needed fluctuates each year based on the number of new teachers hired and teachers exiting the program. For the 2021-2022 school year, there were three Year 1 candidates and three Year 2 candidates.

When first examining any of OCSA’s student performance data, and especially CAASPP data, whether from ELA, Math, or Science, it seems to indicate some concerning drops, especially between the school years ending in 2019 versus 2021. However, it’s crucial to note that there are no CAASPP test scores for the school year ending in 2020 due to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To briefly recap, on a macro level the response to the pandemic necessitated the shift from traditional, in person learning to a virtual classroom model for the remainder of the 20192020 school year and suspension of state testing that year in the state of CA overall.

On a more micro level and to provide some site specific context, come the 2020-2021 school year, OCSA began the year, as many institutions, completely virtually, eventually moving to a dual academy model for Spring semester of both hybrid and virtual learning programs. To facilitate this shift, students and teachers saw changes to their schedules and courses, respectively, at the semester. In other words, this meant that while traditionally students may have had a single teacher for their ELA experience in previous years, during the 2020-2021 school year, it’s possible that they had a different teacher for Fall semester and Spring semester. While some schools of service to middle school aged students in grades 7 and 8 decided to continue their suspension of CAASPP testing through the 2020-2021 school year as allowed by the state, OCSA elected to move forward, testing all students in grades 7, 8, and 11 as it has historically, whether or not they were taking part in school via the hybrid or virtual model. These differences in students’ learning experiences and teachers’ instructional abilities along with the social emotional stressors, fundamental life stressors (i.e. food, housing, safety, health insecurities, etc.), and varying levels of access to and support for virtual learning (i.e. internet, technology, dedicated learning space, parental support, etc.) should be taken into consideration when comparing data from 2018-2019 to 2020-2021.

This is not to say that the data from 2020-2021 should be completely disregarded, and it has not been in our analysis. By continuing to test during the 2020-2021 school year, OCSA collected valuable data that may shed a light on the ramifications of our response to the pandemic and insight into the impact of virtual and hybrid learning environments on student achievement and learning. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to sort and analyze data based on which students participated in the virtual academy versus the hybrid experience, but nonetheless the test data from that year overall should provide some general feedback and information. Perhaps most important to consider is not the understandable drops from the pre-pandemic 2018-2019 to the mid-pandemic 2020-2021 years but instead the rebound, rate of recovery, and trends noticed in comparison and analysis of the testing year 2021-2022 to 2018-2019 and prior years.

At OCSA, 2021-2022 saw a year with all students and teachers back on campus and participating in traditional learning environments similar to those seen in 2018-2019 and previously. While this transition back was not without its unique challenges, analyzing data from this year provides a critical touchstone regarding effectiveness and impact of in person, traditional instruction. Therefore, when analyzing the CAASPP data as well as other assessments of student performance and progress, particular attention is given less to the delta between 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 and more to the rebound from 2020-2021 to 2021-2022 as well as comparison of 2021-2022 to 2018-2019 and other historical, pre-pandemic data points. For lack of better verbiage and to use a recent frequently bandied about term, what is the data revealing about learning loss? In other words, how can this data help us understand how students, and, by connection, their teachers, are responding to being back in the classroom in a more traditional manner? How effective are the instructional practices and interventions post-virtual and hybrid learning on student performance and progress? Have any of our traditional gaps in achievement changed?

In the following section, these questions and more are addressed via the assessment and analysis of student performance and progress data, keeping in mind that truly accurate, reliable, and valid assessment of a topic of the magnitude of student performance and progress must be varied, multi-faceted, nuanced, timely, and more frequent than the single snapshot a homogenized state test like the CAASPP or AP test and, even to a certain extent, semester grades will allow. Nonetheless, we look to these snapshots to provide guidance and direction for our continued study of and desire to positively impact student performance and progress at OCSA.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

1.California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress - English Language Arts

As previously stated in the introduction, there is a noticeable decrease across all grade levels from 2019 to 2021, with 11th grade seeing the largest drop, followed by 7th and then 8th. This prompts questions about why 11th grade saw a larger drop than others. Is it because of burnout or COVID? This snapshot does not provide the answers but can prompt us to look elsewhere should we see it continue. Thankfully, the continued downward trajectory does not continue for 11th grade, and instead rebounds to levels higher than those seen pre-pandemic. Unfortunately, the same does not hold true for all grades. While we do see a slight rebound from 7th graders, 8th graders have actually seen their performance decrease from 2021 to 2022. This becomes especially evident when looking at the graph below of the historical CAASPP data. Please note that each data point is the combination of percent of students at levels of Standard Met and Standard Exceeded. In other words, the graph shows that in the 2020-2021 year 83.51% of 11th grade students had passing scores overall on the ELA CAASPP versus 92.47% at the end of the 2021-2022 school year—an increase of almost 10%. Conversely, 8th grade students had a passing rate of 87.01% in 2020-2021 and 85.96% in 2021-2022. While the decrease is barely more than 1%, it’s still of note given the two other grades’ increase and the overall school performance increase. Moreover, there was a pretty major dip in 8th grade performance overall in 2017-2018, with students passing at only 84.39%. Thankfully, there was a major rebound the following year, but nonetheless, it prompts some attention.

That said, we would also be remiss not to acknowledge the comparison of OCSA to the county of Orange and that state of California, overall. In both cases, OCSA’s overall performance in 2021-2022 at 88.76% far exceeds that of both the county at 57.24% and the state at 47.06%. Furthermore, as the graph in the bottom right reveals in all testing years from 2018-2019 through 2021-2022, even when compared to other schools and districts, like our sister school and fellow charter high school in Los Angeles county CSARTS-SGV, both locations of the charter middle schools Oxford Prep, local highly-regarded districts like Newport-Mesa, Irvine, Tustin, and finally, the Santa Ana school district, which would geographically be the district area into which OCSA would fall, OCSA excels in student ELA performance. These comparisons are not shared to say OCSA has no areas of improvement, but to provide context for when we do discuss those areas of growth as means not to admonish or shame students or teachers but instead continue to foster a community and culture of reflective and growth minded practice focused on balanced whole student health and excellence.

Up to this point, we’ve been looking at overall performance, which while helpful for context, doesn’t always provide a level of detail that can prompt actionable change. In this next section, we’ll be looking at the ELA data broken down by grade level and by each specific claim: Reading, Writing, Listening, and Research. Similar to the previous section, we’re primarily focusing on rebounds from 2020-2021 to 2021-2022 and then looking historically at 20212022 in comparison to 2018-2019 and before. One point to note is that while CAASPP reports overall data in four levels of achievement: Standard Not Met, Standard Nearly Met, Standard Met, and Standard Exceeded, the organization reports data by claim in only three levels of achievement: Below Standard, Near Standard, and Above Standard. Therefore, while we will compare the data by claim to the overall, it’s not an exact comparison given the differences between the achievement levels used in both reporting. For example, the percentages reported under Near Standard and Above Standard likely both include students who fall in the Standard Met category. Again, this is just something to keep in mind as we discuss possible findings.

ELA by Claim - 7th Grade

When examining the different claims, we looked to see not only which area was the largest of growth and in which our students have the most room for improvement, but also which area or areas seemed to take the largest hit during the pandemic. Overall, Listening continues to be the largest area of growth for 7th graders followed by Reading and Research. These findings are not new and prove to have a historical basis. As far as which claim seemed to have been impacted the most by COVID from 2018-2019 to 2020-2021, Reading seems to have the largest initial impact, followed by Listening, Research, and then Writing. This prompts the analysis of their rebound from 20202021 to 2021-2022 and their continued trends. Since 7th grade is the first year students are at OCSA, and given the timing of the testing and pandemic, it’s likely that the impact of virtual learning on students foundational reading experiences at the end of 5th grade and throughout their 6th grade year, something over which we have no control, may have played a part in the lower Reading percentage.

Thankfully, Reading, hardest hit previously, has had the greatest rebound and is trending positively with the percentage of students reaching Above Standards increasing by about 5% and the percentage of students reaching Near Standard decreasing about 5%,, and those reaching Below Standard staying roughly the same. This bodes well not only for the positive impact that in person instruction at OCSA has had on students but likely the return to more traditional in classroom learning that students are experiencing more widely and universally in the educational journey prior to OCSA. Listening, Research, and Writing have not had as positive a rebound as reading, with numbers of students rating Above Standard decreasing and Near Standard increasing. However, in Writing, there are still more students rating Above Standard than Near Standard. Furthermore, as stated previously, this does not mean that students are not meeting standards overall, but it’s definitely not a trend we want to see continue. Thankfully, students rating Below Standard has stayed about the same or decreased across every claim. Overall, 7th graders are still passing ELA CAASPP at a rate of 86.18% in 2021-2022 compared to 85.61% in 2020-2021. While this doesn’t reach the pre-pandemic levels between 88-90% and there are areas of growth and improvement, by and large, students seem to be bouncing back. Continued gathering and analysis of data over time will help us monitor and clarify that students are continuing to grow and learn.

ELA by Claim - 8th Grade

Looking at the data at 8th grade by claim, at first it seems like there are similar trends to those in which we perceived at 7th. However, one major difference is that the percent of students rating Below Standard has increased in both Reading and Writing to the highest levels seen. For added comparison, the 8th graders of 2021-2022 rated Below Standard in Reading at 5.26% and Below Standard in Writing at 7.07% but those same students as 7th graders rated Below Standard in Reading at 3.07% and Below Standard in Writing at 4.96% in 2020-2021. While these increases are less than 5%, it’s nonetheless, something of which to be mindful as we move forward. Similarly to 7th grade, Listening ranks as the largest area of growth with Reading, Writing, and Research all at about the same levels for those students rating Above Standard. The graphs indicate the number of students reaching Above Standards in Reading increasing while the number of students reaching Near Standards in Reading decreasing, with the opposite true for Writing, Listening, and Research. This is again something to keep in mind as we move forward and continue collecting and analyzing data, especially for purposes of setting goals and action plans. Overall, 8th graders are passing ELA CAASPP at a rate of 85.96% in 2021-2022 compared to 87.01% in 2020-2021. While this doesn’t reach the typical pre-pandemic levels between 89-91%, it is still higher than the 2017-2018 school year in which 8th graders passed at 84.93% and both OC and CA passing rates at 55.97% and 46.64% respectively. Continued gathering and analysis of data over time will help us monitor and clarify that students are continuing to grow and learn.

The claim by claim data in 11th grade is one of our largest celebrations in our ELA CAASPP data analysis. While students have not fully reached pre-pandemic percentages rating Above Standard, every single claim area has dramatically increased by nearly 10%. Moreover, the graph and rate of all three achievement levels are trending in a positive manner with Above Standard percentages increasing in all four claim areas while Near Standard and Below Standard are decreasing in all four areas. Listening is still an area of growth overall, with fewer than 50% of students rating Above Standard. However, when looking at overall ELA CAASPP passing rates, 11th graders have not only reached but exceeded pre-pandemic passing levels with 92.47% of students passing. In comparison, students in OC passed by 63.96% and CA state by 59%.Continued gathering and analysis of data over time will help us monitor and clarify that students are continuing to grow and learn.

ELA by Claim - 11th Grade

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2019 - 2022 ELA Comparison by Disability, All Tested Grade Levels

While at first glance, the comparison data between students with a reported disability and students with no reported disability seems to be trending in a positive manner given the increase in overall students Exceeding Standard at 24.32%. Unfortunately, this masks a more negative reality. When taking into consideration the percent of students passing, which includes those who reach both Standard Exceeded and Standard Met, 2021-2022 reveals only 51.35% of students with a reported disability passed the ELA CAASPP test while 90.33% of students without a reported disability passed. This is an achievement gap of nearly 40%, specifically 38.98%. Moreover, when comparing this gap to historical data and gaps, the achievement gap has widened nearly 2% since the 2018-2019 school year when 54.05% of students with reported disabilities passed, meaning the gap went from 36.81% to the previously stated 38.98%. While the percentage of students with reported disabilities who passed during the 2020-2021 school year was lower than both of these pre-pandemic and most recent year’s numbers at 46.34%, so was the performance of students with no reported disabilities at 86.93%. Unfortunately, these lower numbers do not necessitate a smaller gap. In fact, the gap during the 2020-2021 year was the widest yet at 40.59%. When we compare the percentage of students with reported disabilities at OCSA passing to both OC and CA overall, our students with disabilities passed at 5.89% lower than students in OC overall and only 4.29% higher than CA students overall. Please note, the overall pass rates for OC and CA referenced in the previous sentence include all students, not just those with reported disabilities. Nonetheless, this showcases there is not only an achievement gap at OCSA but in comparison to our county and state as well.

When we dive into specific claims in ELA, unsurprisingly, the gaps between students with a reported disability and those without a reported disability are still present, but we’re able to get a bit more detail about which claim sees the largest gaps and in which claim there have been losses, rebounds, and gains by students with reported disabilities. The largest drop in percentage of students scoring Above Standard in the ELA claims from 2018-2019 to 2021-2022 is in Reading. During the 2018-2019 year, students with reported disabilities rated Above Standard at 37.84% compared to 21.62% in 2021-2022. While there was an increase from the percentage of 14.63% in 2020-2021, this is still a 16.22% drop from 2018-2019 to 2021-2022. Also, it’s true that students with no reported disabilities also saw a large drop in their reading scores from the same years, from 62.50% to 55.40%, in fact. However, that’s a drop of only 7.1%. Therefore, students with reported disabilities dropped more than twice as much compared to those without reported disabilities. The good news when it comes to the Reading claim, however, is that the percentage of students with reported disabilities who rated Below Standard decreased in each subsequent year from 2018-2019 through 2021-2022 going from 29.73% to 18.92%., a difference of more than 10%. The ELA subset claim of Listening shows a similar trend of percentages of students with reported disabilities decreasing in both Above Standard and Below Standard with an increase in the number of students Near Standard. Moreover, while there was a dip in the percentage of students with reported disabilities reaching Above Standard, the lowest percentage of students with reported disabilities passing an ELA subset is found in Listening. About the same 10% decrease in students with reported disabilities reaching the Above Standard from 2018-2019 to 2021-2022 rank was found in the ELA claim of Research, but the overall percentage of students with reported disabilities in Above Standard Research in 2021-2022 was 24.32% versus only 16.22% in Above Standard Listening. The subset claim of Writing is quite inconsistent with the trends seen in other claims because both the percentages of students with reported disabilities reaching Above Standard and Below Standard increased in 2021-2022 to 37.84% and 27.03% respectively; this is a little more than 5% increase in Above Standard versus 2018-2019 and about an 11% increase in Below Standard. When examining the gaps between the percentages of students with reported disabilities and students with no reported disabilities reaching Above Standard, the gaps from 2018-2019 to 2021-2022 seem to shrink in Writing, Listening, and Research whereas the approximately 25% gap in Reading persists. Gaps in the other subsets are about 20% in reading, 15% in Listening, and 25% in Research.

After examining the data, it’s clear that a major growth area for OCSA is supporting its students with reported disabilities in all areas of ELA but especially in the ELA subset of Reading. Students with reported disabilities barely reach over 50% passing ELA overall, never even reach 40% Above Standing in ELA subset claims, and have anywhere from 10-30% Below Standard in ELA claims any given year.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2019 - 2022 ELA Comparison by Economic Status, All Tested Grade Levels

The comparison of economically disadvantaged students and those who are not economically disadvantaged provided insight into the continued challenges that some of our students face. For example, when looking at overall rates of passing the CAASPP ELA, the percentage of economically disadvantaged students passing prepandemic in 2018-2019 is 80.9% versus the subsequent two testing years at 76.92% in 2020-2021 and 74.24% in 2021-2022. This subgroup of economically disadvantaged students joins the 8th graders overall in seeing a decrease in their overall CAASPP rate. Based on this perceived correlation, it was hypothesized that the number of students in 8th grade who are classified as economically disadvantaged may have been larger than that number in other grades. However, upon further examination, of the 66 total students who were classified as economically disadvantaged, only 21 of them were in 8th grade, with 24 and 21 in 7th and 11th grades respectively. However, what was discovered is that there was enough data to break out the percentage of economically disadvantaged students in each grade into the four overall categories of Standard Exceeded, Standard Met, Standard Nearly Met, and Standard Not Met. As it turns out, 9.52% of economically disadvantaged 8th grade students scored in the Standards Not Met category versus 0.00% of economically disadvantaged 7th and 11th grade students. While this correlation doesn’t equal causation, it’s something to note. Furthermore, when comparing the overall passing rate of the ELA CAASPP in economically disadvantaged students and those who are not economically disadvantaged, a gap appears. Conversely to gaps discussed in comparison regarding students with reported disabilities, the gap between economically disadvantaged students and non-economically disadvantaged students is smallest during the 2020-2021 year at 8.81% and largest during the 2021-2022 year at 15.64%. Prior to the pandemic in 2018-219, the overall gap was 9.37%. Therefore, the years of the pandemic seemed to actually help close the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged students and those who are not economically disadvantaged. Could this be because students who are economically disadvantaged participated in the hybrid program on campus, and, therefore, were benefactors of smaller class sizes and more one-on-one or small group teacher attention even if it was for fewer days during the week? Possibly. Again, unfortunately, we do not have the ability to sort CAASPP data by which students participated in hybrid versus virtual academies. Nonetheless, this isn’t to say that there are no challenges or areas of growth for students who are economically disadvantaged.

When examining the ELA claim data from the years 2018-2019, 20202-2021, and 2021-2022, one of the most notable trends is that even if the Below Standards percentages slightly increase in 2020-2021, they all decrease to lower than the pre-pandemic percentage except for one, which while it decreases does so only mildly. The largest changes in the claim data are seen in the changes between Above Standard and Near Standard percentages. Each sub-claim drops at least 10% in Above Standard percentages from 2018-2019 to 2021-2022, and two of them drop almost 16%. Similarly, when looking at the drops and changes in percentages of students without economic disadvantages reaching Above Standard are relatively similar ranging from about 7% to 14% depending on the claim. The biggest difference is in the higher Above Standard percentage to begin with in 2018-2019 for those without economic disadvantage. As far as how students who are economically disadvantaged are rebounding from drops in specific ELA claims from 2018-2019 to 2020-2021 of which there were drops in all four claim areas, data from 2021-2021 shows there have been increases in the percentage of students meeting Above Standards in Reading and Research, but there have been decreases Writing and Listening. Neither of the increases in Reading or Research returns to the previous Above Standard percentage reached by students with economic disadvantages in 2018-2019. However, students with economic disadvantages did increase in the Research claim versus students without economic disadvantages who decreased in that claim. The largest claim area of growth remains Listening, as it was in 2018-2019. However, given that the percentage of economically disadvantaged students reaching the Above Standard mark does not reach even 50% in any of the four claims, all claim areas relevant areas of growth and focus.

Overall, when comparing the passing rate of economically disadvantaged students in 2021-2022 at 74.26% to OC at 57.24% and CA at 47.06%, OCSA students are still exceeding. However, there is no drop in the overall passing percentage for the ELA CAASPP among students without disadvantage. In fact, there was an increase of about 4%. Therefore, students without economic disadvantage are passing the ELA CAASPP at 89.88%, creating an achievement gap of 15.64%. While not as large as the achievement gap between students with reported disabilities and those with no reported disabilities, it’s an achievement gap nonetheless and one worthy of being considered an official area of growth.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2019 - 2022 ELA Comparison by Language Fluency, All Tested Grade Levels

* English Learner data not included for 2019, nor for ELA claims in 2021 & 2022, due to insufficient sample size.

Given the limited data available for our emerging English Learner population at OCSA, this analysis is going to be a bit shorter than the others. That said, although it is shorter it does not mean it’s any less important and worthy of study and reflection. As with the other subgroups, if we look at the overall percentage of students passing the ELA CAASPP, we find that our EL students are passing at the lowest percentage of all subgroups: 37.5% in 20212022. While this percentage seemingly increased from the previous year’s 2020-2021 percentage of 35.17%, given the small sample size, this may be an instance where total number of students and not percentages serves best. Therefore, rephrased, in 2021-2022, a total of six English learners passed the ELA CAASPP out of 16, and only one of those six students reached Standard Exceeded. Similarly, in 2020-2021, only five students passed the ELA CAASPP out of 14 total students, and only one of those five students reached Standard Exceeded. Given the limited data, there’s not much more to say. However, it is of note that the percentage of English learners who only reached the Standard Not Met category increased and when translated into the whole number of students, it’s twice as many students, going from two in 2020-2021 to four students in 2021-2022. In comparison, whether we look at comparing this overall percentage of English learners passing to students reclassified fluent English proficient (RFEP), initial fluent English proficient (IFEP), English only (EO), or some combination of all three of those groups, the delta is greater than 51%. In other words, if you are not an English learner at OCSA, you are 50% more likely to pass the ELA CAASPP. Moreover, when comparing the passing rate of English learners in 2021-2022 at 37.5% to OC at 57.24% and CA at 47.06%, OCSA English learners have a gap of about 10% compared to those students in CA in general.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2019 - 2022 ELA Comparison by Ethnicity, All Tested Grade Levels

* The following ethnic groups were not included due to insufficient sample size: American Indian / Alaska Native, Black / African American, Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander. Filipino data by claim for 2021 is unavailable due to insufficient sample size.

Upon examination of the ELA CAASPP data compared by ethnicity, it became apparent that students of certain ethnicities are performing better based on the data presented. Overall percentages of students passing the ELA CAASPP data range from students of Asian descent at a rate of 93.61% on one end of the spectrum to students of Hispanic origin at a rate of 79.45% with students of two or more races, Filipino students, and White students at the rates of 90.63%, 90.32%, and 90.30% respectively. As such, there exists an achievement gap of anywhere between 10.85-14.16% depending on which ethnic group a Hispanic student is compared. While four of the ethnic groups experienced a dip in overall performance during the 2020-2021 school year’s testing scores, every one of those four groups rebounded, gaining a higher percentage in 2021-2022 than the previous year. However, it was only the group of students who identified with two or more races whose scores continuously rose from 2018-2019 through 20212022 when they reached their height.

When one zooms in to the data broken down by claim, a starker picture emerges. As evidenced in previous comparisons, the largest area of growth for all students is still Listening, with no group reaching even 50% Above Standard. However, in nearly every other claim, students who identify as Asian, Filipino, White, and two or more races reach a percentage of Above Standard anywhere from 5268%. Whereas students of Hispanic origin barely reach above 40% in even half of the claims. Of particular note is the Research subset claim that shows Hispanic students reaching only 35% Above Standard. While Filipino and White students are struggling a bit more in these two areas as well, reaching 48.39% and 48.51% respectively, there is still a difference of nearly 13% between students in those two groups and Hispanic students. Furthermore, that is a claim category in which the trend of students of Hispanic descent is trending downward and fewer students are reaching Above Standard while more are in the Near Standard category. This same downward trend is true for Asian students and those two identify with at least two races also. All student groups except for Asian students have seen increases from the 2020-2021 year to the 2021-2022 year in Writing, too, with Asian students dropping from 73.53% to 65.15%. However, Hispanic students still come in at the lowest percentage reaching Above Standard at 42.22%. Moreover, they also have the largest percentage of students Below Standard at 8.33%, closely followed by White students at 6.02%. That said, it is only Asian students for whom we see a negative trend in Writing, as their Above Standard percentages continue to shrink and their Below Standard percentages continue to grow. For students who identify as members of all other ethnic groups, including Hispanic students, the trend is positive with Above Standard percentages increasing. Finally, in reading, Hispanic students are at the lowest percentage of Above Standard at 41.11% while also the highest percentage of Below Standard at 8.33%. Furthermore, while the Above Standard seems to be trending positively and rising, so too does the Below Standard, which is worrying. All other student ethnic groups are seeing positive increases in their Above Standard percentages in reading and decreases in their Below Standard.

Overall, while there is definitely evidence of an achievement gap faced by students of Hispanic descent, nonetheless, no matter the ethnic group with which students identify, their overall percentage pass rates in the ELA CAASPP exceed those of both OC and CA.

In summary of the analysis of OCSA’s ELA CAASPP data, we have the following main areas of growth:

• Listening is the greatest area of growth overall, for all grade levels, and every subgroup comparison.

• Supporting English learners is the greatest area of growth insofar as achievement gaps and comparison to OC and CA ELA CAASPP passing percentages give guidance. There is a gap of 51% or more depending on the group to which EL are compared. The overall percentage of EL students passing the ELA CAASPP is lower than the general pass rate of OC and CA.

• Supporting students with reported disabilities is crucial. While the achievement gap at 38.98% isn’t as high as EL students, there are more than twice as many students with reported disabilities who were tested than EL students. Moreover, the overall pass rate for students with reported disabilities is less than the overall pass rate of OC as a whole. While listening continues to be the overall growth area for all groups, a specific secondary area of growth for students with reported disabilities is Reading.

• Supporting economically disadvantaged students is key. The achievement gap of 15.64% between them and those students not economically disadvantaged highlights the necessity. Furthermore, in addition to the overarching area of growth in Listening, a secondary focus on Writing, followed closely by Research would be strong foci, too.

• Supporting students who identify as of Hispanic descent is needed. Per the data analysis, there is an 11-14% achievement gap depending on which group of students with other ethnicity Hispanic students are compared. Listening is still the largest area of growth, but Writing and Research come in as close seconds.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2.California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress - Mathematics

As seen in the CAASPP data for ELA, there is a noticeable decrease across all grade levels from 2019 to 2021. However, conversely to the ELA data, in Math 11th grade saw the smallest drop of only 3.21%, but both 8th and 7th grade experienced 14.94%% and 18.23% drops respectively. This prompts questions about why there was an inverse in this data from ELA to Math. Some have theorized that math is something that builds on itself. Therefore, more foundational skills and concepts happen during the late elementary and early middle school years which were disrupted by COVID, thus a potential cause for the steep decline in 7th and 8th graders versus 11th grade. This snapshot does not provide the answers but can prompt us to look elsewhere should we see it continue. Thankfully, the continued downward trajectory does not continue for any of the grades, and 11th grade rebounds to a percentage level of passing higher than those seen pre-pandemic at 74.93%. While both 7th and 8th graders scores for 2021-2022 show a rebound compared to the previous year of 2020-2021, it does not reach anywhere near the levels seen pre-pandemic. This becomes especially evident when looking at the graph below of the historical CAASPP data. Please note that each data point is the combination of percent of students at levels of Standard Met and Standard Exceeded. In other words, the graph shows that in the 2020-2021 year 69.61% of 11th grade students had passing scores overall on the Math CAASPP versus 74.93% at the end of the 2021-2022 school year—an increase of almost 5%. Alternatively, the 8th grade students had a passing rate of 68.59% in 2020-2021 and 71.43% in 2021-2022, and the 7th graders went from 71.65% in 2020-2021 to 72.47% in 2021-2022. While students in both these grades did see an increase, it’s only about 3% for 8th grade and less than 1% for 7th grade. This is especially of note given percentages of passing pre-pandemic were 83.53% for 8th grade and 89.88% for 7th grade. When comparing passing rates of OCSA 7th, 8th, and 11th graders to both OC county and CA state rates, OCSA students still outperformed by 27.94% and 39.8% respectively. If broken down into specific grades, the achievement gap between OCSA students versus county and state only seems to widen.

7th Grade

Math by Claim -

When examining the different claims, we looked to see not only which area was the largest of growth and in which our students have the most room for improvement, but also which area or areas seemed to take the largest hit during the pandemic. It’s clear from both the visual representation in the charts below and the numerical data above, the claim of Concepts & Procedures took the largest hit in percentages of students scoring Above Standards with the categories of students Near Standards dramatically increasing. This same trend of students scoring Above Standards decreasing and those Near Standards increasing can be seen in the other two claim areas as well. In fact prior to the pandemic, a larger percentage of students were scoring Above Standard compared to Near Standard, and, now, it is the opposite in all three claim areas. However, the biggest difference in the three areas is that the percentage of students scoring Below Standard in Communicating Reasoning continues to increase while it’s trending downward in the other two claim areas. While the CAASPP data for ELA showed a strong rebound based on student scores from 2020-2021 to 2021-2022, unfortunately, we do not see those same increases in the Math data. Moreover, similarly to what was noted in the ELA analysis, since 7th grade is the first year students are at OCSA, and given the timing of the testing and pandemic, it’s possible that the impact of virtual learning on students’ foundational Math skills and experiences at the end of 5th grade and throughout their 6th grade year, something over which we have no control, may have factored into the lower scores. A note of caution when drawing conclusions based on this data: given that CAASPP reports overall data in four levels of achievement (Standard Not Met, Standard Nearly Met, Standard Met, and Standard Exceeded) versus data by claim in only three levels (Below Standard, Near Standard, and Above Standard), the percentage of students scoring Near Standard and Above Standard likely both include students who fall in the Standard Met category above. Therefore, while this data broken down by claim can give insight into possible areas of growth, especially when looked at longitudinally, it’s not as clear regarding students who are meeting if not exceeding standards, a worthy achievement in its own right. Speaking of which, 7th graders are still passing Math CAASPP at a rate of 72.47% in 2021-2022 compared to 71.65% in 2020-2021. While this doesn’t reach the pre-pandemic levels between 87-89% and there are areas of growth and improvement, it is still higher than both OC and CA passing rates at 43.76% and 32.04% respectively. Continued gathering and analysis of data over time will help us monitor and clarify that students are continuing to grow and learn.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

Math by Claim - 8th Grade

Math by Claim - 11th Grade

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2019 - 2022 Math Comparison by Disability, All Tested Grade Levels

While at first glance, the comparison data between students with a reported disability and students with no reported disability seems not to have changed too much, unfortunately, a closer look reveals some troubling trends. When taking into consideration the percent of students passing, which includes those who reach both Standard Exceeded and Standard Met, 2021-2022 reveals only 33.34% of students with a reported disability passed the Math CAASPP test while 74.94% of students without a reported disability passed. This is an achievement gap of over 40%, specifically 41.6%. Moreover, when comparing this gap to historical data and gaps, the achievement gap has widened nearly 4% since the 2018-2019 school year when 44.44% of students with reported disabilities passed, meaning the gap went from 37.57% to the previously stated 41.6%. While the percentage of students with reported disabilities who passed during the 2020-2021 school year was lower than both of these pre-pandemic and most recent year’s numbers at 28.95%, so was the performance of students with no reported disabilities at 71.83%. Unfortunately, these lower numbers do not necessitate a smaller gap. In fact, the gap during the 2020-2021 year was the widest yet at 42.88%. Perhaps most troubling is the percentage of students scoring in the Standard Not Met category at 46.15%, more than 15% more than the 2018-2019 school year. Especially compared to rebounding trends seen in the ELA CAASPP data with a return in 2021-2022 to near pre-pandemic percentages, the 2021-2022 percentage of students reaching Standard Not Met has increased almost 2% since 2020-2021. When we compare the percentage of students with reported disabilities at OCSA passing to both OC and CA overall, our students with disabilities passed at a rate similar to CA students overall but 11.9% lower than students in OC overall. Please note, the overall pass rates for OC and CA referenced in the previous sentence include all students, not just those with reported disabilities. Nonetheless, this showcases there is not only an achievement gap at OCSA but in comparison to our county and state as well.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

Diving into the specificities of the Math claims, unsurprisingly, the gaps in student achievement between students with a reported disability and those without a reported disability are still present. Moreover, at first it seems as though the gaps are smaller than even before the pandemic. And while, yes, this is true when comparing the percentages of students achieving a score of Above Standard in each group of students side by side. What it does not immediately take into account is the decrease in performance of students with no reported disabilities, too. In other words, while, yes, technically the gaps between students with a reported disability and without a reported disability are getting smaller, it’s more likely due to the poorer performance of students without a reported disability than an increase in performance of students with a reported disability. The only exception to this is seen in the percentage of students with a reported disability scoring Above Standard in Problem Solving, Modeling & Data Analysis. Pre-pandemic in the 2018-2019 school year, the percentage of students with a reported disability scoring Above Standard was 25% while in the most recent data from 2021-2022, the percentage of this same group of students who scored Above Standard was 25.64%. Therefore, not only were students with disabilities able to rebound from a loss to that percentage in 2020-2021, they even gained a slight bit. That said, this is a great example of a perceived shrinking gap in achievement between the two groups. If only looking at the percentage of the gap, it went from about 30% in 2018-2019 to closer to 15% in 2021-2022. However, what must also be acknowledged is that the performance of students without reported disabilities also suffered a loss; the percentage of students without reported disabilities scoring Above Standard shrank from 54.67% in 2018-2019 to 41.23% in 2021-2022. Therefore, while examination of this data makes clear that supporting students with reported disabilities in all areas of Math is a major growth area for OCSA, given students without a reported disability scoring Above Standard fell below 50% in all three claim areas, it’s reasonable to say supporting student achievement in Math regardless of subgroup and overall is a growth area for OCSA.

2019 - 2022 Math Comparison by Economic Status, All Tested Grade Levels

While not as extreme as the comparison between students with reported disabilities and those without, the comparison of achievement in Math of economically disadvantaged OCSA students to those who are not economically disadvantaged provides insight into continued challenges that many of our students face. For example, when looking at overall rates of passing the CAASPP Math, the percentage of economically disadvantaged students passing pre-pandemic in 2018-2019 is 65.16% versus the subsequent two testing years at 52.33% in 2020-2021 and dipping below 50% for the first time in 2021-2022, at 48.49%. This greater than 15% difference between 2018-2019 and 2021-2022 is the largest drop in any of the subgroups, and, furthermore, is a continuous drop from 2020-2021 to 2021-2022 with no evidence of rebound between the most recent years. When comparing the passing rate of economically disadvantaged students in 2021-2022 at 48.49% to OC at 45.24% and CA at 33.38%, OCSA students are still exceeding. That said, while the percentage of economically disadvantaged students passing the Math CAASPP is still overall greater than the percentage of students with reported disabilities and, in a similar manner to the point made in the previous section about students outside of this specific subgroup also seeing their achievement decrease, it cannot be ignored that that gap in performance between students facing economic disadvantage and those who are not is increasing. Therefore, while examination of this data makes clear that supporting students facing economic disadvantage is a major growth area for OCSA, given students without economic disadvantages scoring Above Standard fell below 50% in all three claim areas, it’s reasonable to say supporting student achievement in Math regardless of subgroup and overall is a growth area for OCSA.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2019 - 2022 Math Comparison by Language Fluency, All Tested Grade Levels

* English Learner data not included for 2019, nor for math claims in 2021 & 2022, due to insufficient sample size.

As with the other subgroups, if we look at the overall percentage of students passing the Math CAASPP, we find that our EL students are passing at the highest percentage of all subgroups: 62.5% in 2021-2022. While this percentage seemingly increased from the previous year’s 2020-2021 percentage of 42.86%, given the small sample size, this may be an instance where total number of students and not percentages serves best. Therefore, rephrased, in 2021-2022, a total of 10 English learners passed the Math CAASPP out of 16, and four of those 10 students reached Standard Exceeded. Similarly, in 2020-2021, six students passed the Math CAASPP out of 14 total students, and three of those six students reached Standard Exceeded. Given the limited data, there’s not much more to say. However, it is of note that the percentage of English learners who only reached the Standard Nearly Met category decreased from five to three and the number of students in the Standard Met category doubled from three to six. In comparison, whether we look at comparing this overall percentage of English learners passing to students reclassified fluent English proficient (RFEP), initial fluent English proficient (IFEP), English only (EO), or some combination of all three of those groups, the delta is less than 25%. Moreover, when comparing the passing rate of English learners in 2021-2022 at 62.5% to OC at 45.24% and CA at 33.38%, OCSA English learners are out performing the average of their peers at both the county and state level.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2019 - 2022 Math Comparison by Ethnicity, All Tested Grade Levels

* The following ethnic groups were not included due to insufficient sample size: American Indian / Alaska Native, Black / African American, Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander. Filipino data by claim for 2021 is unavailable due to insufficient sample size.

Upon examination of the Math CAASPP data compared by ethnicity, it became apparent that students of certain ethnicities are performing better based on the data presented. Overall percentages of students passing the ELA CAASPP data range from students of Asian descent at a rate of 89.47% on one end of the spectrum to students of Hispanic origin at a rate of 56.67% with Filipino students, students of two or more races, and White students at the rates of 80.64%, 75.63%, and 67.53% respectively. As such, there exists an achievement gap of anywhere between 10.86-32.8% depending on which ethnic group a Hispanic student is compared. While four of the ethnic groups experienced a dip in overall performance during the 2020-2021 school year’s testing scores, every one of those four groups rebounded, gaining a higher percentage in 2021-2022 than the previous year.

When one zooms in to the data broken down by claim, a starker picture emerges. In every claim, the percentage of students who identify as Filipino, Hispanic, White, and two or more races and reach Above Standard is less than 50%, with Hispanic students scoring below 30%. Asian students are the only ones to score Above Standard in each of the three claim categories. Of particular interest is the Communicating Reasoning claim that shows the lowest percentages of students scoring Above Standard regardless of ethnicity, and students of Hispanic descent barely scoring above 20%. This growth area of Communicating Reasoning holds steady across any subgroup of students based on the Math CAASPP scores from 2021-2022. The largest drop in Math CAASPP achievement from 2018-2019 in regards to ethnicity, however, is seen by White students, who went from passing at almost 80% in 2018-2019 to passing at 67.53% in 2021-2022. While this is still a bit more than a 10% gap in achievement when compared to students of Hispanic descent, it’s noteworthy nonetheless, especially seeing the rate of rebound: 4% between 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 for Hispanic students and less than 1% for White students.

Overall, while there is definitely evidence of an achievement gap faced by students of Hispanic descent, nonetheless, no matter the ethnic group with which students identify, their overall percentage pass rates in the Math CAASPP exceed those of both OC and CA.

In summary of the analysis of OCSA’s Math CAASPP data, we have the following main areas of growth:

• Communicating Reasoning is the greatest area of growth overall, for all grade levels, and every subgroup comparison.

• Supporting students with reported disabilities is the greatest area of growth insofar as achievement gaps and comparison to OC and CA Math CAASPP passing percentages give guidance. While the overall pass rate for students with reported disabilities is similar to the state of CA, it’s 11.9% less than the overall pass rate of OC as a whole. While Communicating Reasoning continues to be the overall growth area for all groups, a specific secondary area of growth for students with reported disabilities is Concepts & Procedures.

• Supporting economically disadvantaged students is key. The achievement gap of 26.6% between them and those students not economically disadvantaged highlights the necessity. Furthermore, in addition to the overarching area of growth in Listening, a secondary focus on Problem Solving, Modeling & Data Analysis would be strong foci, too.

• Supporting students who identify as of Hispanic descent and White is needed. Per the data analysis, there is a 10.86-32.8% achievement gap depending on which group of students with other ethnicity Hispanic students are compared and a gap of 8.1-21.94% for those students who are White. Communicating Reasoning is still the largest area of growth with Problem Solving, Modeling & Data Analysis falling next.

3.California Science Test

Between the recent roll-out of the California Science Test (CAST) and COVID-related school closures, our science assessment data collection has changed from year to year:

• In 2019, OCSA administered the CAST to its 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders.

• In 2020, the CAST was not administered due to the pandemic.

• In 2021, OCSA administered the CAST to its 8th graders only.

• In 2022, OCSA administered the CAST to its 8th, 10th, and 12th graders. In 2023, we intend to have our 8th, 10th, and 12th graders take the CAST; thereafter, we intend to administer the science test to our 8th and 10th graders only.

Our 8th grade data demonstrates, as expected, a dip in performance during the 2020-2021 school year, likely due to distance learning; the scores largely returned to their pre-pandemic levels in spring 2022. Other notable findings include:

• The dip in performance among our 8th graders largely appears to be due to students dropping from above standard to near standard, rather than an increase in the number of students well below standard. This is clearest from the data broken down by domain - the percentage of students below standard didn’t increase much in 2021 (and in fact decreased dramatically for life sciences), but the percentage of students near standard increased substantially. This slide largely corrects in 2022, with substantial growth in the physical sciences even beyond pre-pandemic performance levels.

• Students without disabilities meet or exceed standards at approximately double the rate of students with disabilities (approximately 2/3 of students without disabilities vs. approximately 1/3 of students with disabilities).

• Our economically disadvantaged students also lag behind their more resourced counterparts - rates of meeting/exceeding standard are around 30-40% for our lower SES students, while about 60-70% of our more affluent students meet or exceed standards.

• While our EL population is too small to provide metrics, our IFEP and RFEP students meet or exceed standards at comparable rates to our English-only students.

• Of our ethnic subpopulations, our Latino/Hispanic students have the most opportunity for growth, with approximately 40% meeting/exceeding standards.

Overall Science

* In 2021, only 8th graders took the CAST.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

Science by Domain - 8th Grade

*In 2021, only 8th graders took the CAST. Also, 11th graders only took the CAST in 2019.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2019 - 2022 Science Comparison by Disability, All Tested Grade Levels

* Data not included for students with reported disabilities/students with no reported disabilities in 8th grade due to insufficient sample size, nor is 11th grade data from 2022 available since 11th graders only took CAST in 2019.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2021 & 2022 Science Comparison by Economic Status

IV. STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2021 - 2022 Science Comparison by Language Fluency, All Tested Grade Levels

* 2021 data only includes 8th grade while 2022 includes 8th, 10th & 12th grade results. Per CAASPP reporting standards, in order to protect student privacy, an asterisk will be displayed instead of a number on test results where 10 or fewer students have tested.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

2019 - 2022 Science Comparison by Ethnicity, All Tested Grade Levels

* 2021 data only includes 8th grade while 2022 includes 8th, 10th & 12th grade results. The following ethnic groups were not included due to insufficient sample size: American Indian / Alaska Native, Black / African American, Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander. Filipino data by claim for 2021 is unavailable due to insufficient sample size.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

4.SAT/ACT Scores

Likely due to changing college admissions requirements, the number of OCSA students opting to take the SAT and/or ACT has decreased sharply in recent years. At the same time, the average scores on these exams have increased notably, possibly because the only students taking these exams are the ones applying to particularly competitive programs. Scores have risen across all subsections, with the most striking improvements in the math portion of the SAT and the English section of the ACT.

SAT Results

ACT Results

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

5.Advanced Placement (AP) Tests

Over the past six years, OCSA has considerably increased the number of AP exams administered, from 1,254 in 2017 to 1,720 in 2022 (a 37% increase). This growth is likely due in part to rising enrollment numbers and in part to expanded AP course offerings (AP Art & Design, AP Chinese Language, AP Computer Science, AP Research, and AP Seminar are all newly offered since our last WASC cycle). Our AP exam pass rate also trended upward from 2017-2020; the dip in the pass rate in 2021 is likely a function of distance learning, and the pass rate has already resumed its upward trend in 2022. Classes that stand out in their pass rate gains include Calculus AB (from 61.5% to 73.4%, with over 80% of students passing in 2018-2021), English Literature (from 86.2% to 98.7%), Environmental Science (from 57.1% to 78.4%), and World History (from 76.9% to 88.8%). We’re also particularly proud of our AP Capstone program - AP Seminar has maintained a perfect 100% pass rate since its inception in 2018-2019, and AP Research has maintained a near perfect pass rate as well. One of OCSA’s AP Seminar papers was even highlighted by the College Board as the exemplar shared on the website in 2021-2022.

AP Test Results 2017-2022

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

6.Student Grades

OCSA students, on the whole, are exceptionally committed not only to the arts but also to their academics. Semester grade data from the past four years shows that for every discipline, the majority of students earn A’s. This majority is higher in electives (87.6%) and special services classes (93.5%), and lower in math (54.1%) and science (56.3%). While math and science classes have more D and F grades on average, all disciplines have a pass rate greater than 99%.

Academic and Elective Semester Grades by Department, 2018-2022

By and large the data on this table supports the picture of OCSA students as high achieving and successful. Percentages of students receiving the mark of “A” are the highest, followed by “B,” then “C,” and so on. However, it does prompt some questions, too. Most notably, why has a student never received a “D” or an “F” in a Special Services class? What constitutes a Special Services class? Larger questions about the meaning of grades and what constitutes them are incited as well. For example, if grades are supposed to be a reflection and representation of a student’s mastery of standards, what standards are being assessed in Special Services courses? Are these more academic or vocational courses? Are they served by assessment via a traditional letter grade and grading system or are they better served via a system of Pass/No Pass? When we analyze the CAASPP data and see a significant achievement gap for students with reported disabilities, how do these classes play a part? Is there an inflation of student GPA by virtue of these “A” and “B” marks? These are just some of the questions reflection on this data provokes.

On a similar note of comparison, when analyzing the percentage of students receiving specific grades, an interesting picture emerges. First, when approaching this analysis for basis of comparison, the mark of “A” is being interpreted as equivalent to Above Standard or Standard Exceeded, “B” to Standard Met, “C” to Standard Nearly Met or Near Standard, and both “D” and “F” as Below Standard or Standard Not Met. Utilizing this scale, and looking at overall CAASPP passing percentages from the 2018-2019, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 school years, some correlations emerge. Given that overall CAASPP data passing percentage includes students who achieve scores in the Standard Exceeded and Standard Met ranges added together, and given that the mark of “A” is being interpreted as roughly equivalent to Standard Exceeded and the mark of “B” to Standard Met, in theory, the overall percentage of students passing both the ELA and Math CAASPP should be similar to the percentage of students receiving an “A” or “B” mark during the Spring semester*. When the data is examined, the percentage of students passing the ELA CAASPP in the 2018-2019 school year is 89.34%, and the percentage of students receiving an “A” or a “B” in Literature & Composition is about 91%. Therefore, at least from this singular data point and comparison, it seems as though the CAASPP passing percentage is equivalent to the percentage of students passing Literature & Composition, with a couple more percent receiving the mark of an “A” or “B” than passing the ELA CAASPP. That said, those couple percent could easily fall into a margin of error. However, when looking at the data from the ELA CAASPP in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 compared to Spring Semester grades from those years, a small but interesting gap emerges. ELA CAASPP data from 2020-2021 shows 85.10% students passing while 90% of students received the mark of “A” or “B,” leaving a gap of about 5%. Similarly, ELA CAASPP data states that 88.76% of students passed in the 2021-2022 year and 92% of students received the mark of “A” or “B,” a gap of about 3.25%. While these numbers could absolutely be a coincidence and margins of error can abound, overall, it does seem as though there is a relative correlation between the percentage of students passing the ELA CAASPP and those receiving the mark of an “A” or “B” on their semester report card. Could this suggest that there’s high fidelity between what is considered meeting or exceeding standards? Are grades therefore an accurate reflection and representation of a student’s learning and/or is the CAASPP? Does this support that there are strong standards and mastery based approaches happening in the content area and classroom already? Again, there are too many variables to say anything definitive, but it’s an interesting comparison.

Similarly, when we compare both the CAASPP and Semester Grade data from Math, it prompts some equally interesting questions surrounding the meaning, accuracy, validity (all of these terms being used in the academic sense regarding the study of assessment, not in a judgmental way or connotation) of grades and assessments. The Math CAASPP data from 2018-2019 reveals that overall 80.51% of students passed, and 76% of students received the mark of either “A” or “B” in Spring of 2019. This approximately 4.5% gap is similar to the one seen when comparing ELA CAASPP data to Literature & Composition semester grades. However, we see this gap between the percentage of students passing the CAASPP and Spring semester grades widen significantly in the 2020-2021 school year. This 2020-2021 year saw 69.93% of students pass the Math CAASPP but 84% of students receive either an “A” or “B” mark in their Math class Spring 2021, a gap of nearly 14%. It’s possible that this is an anomaly as we do see that gap shrink by almost half during the 2021-2022 school year with Math CAASPP pass rate at 73.18% and Spring semester grades of either an “A” or “B” at 80%. Nonetheless, this data, quite imperfect and circumstantial as it is, prompts some interesting questions.

*Yes, we are aware that there is a huge difference between a standardized test that is in many ways a snapshot of a student’s performance on a single day versus the grade a student can earn at the culmination of an entire semester. Moreover, we also know that the grades received are from students in grades 7 - 12 while the CAASPP only tests students in three of those grades at 7th, 8th, and 11th. Nonetheless, given one of the stated purposes of the CAASPP is to assess student progress towards mastery of standards and grades are another way to assess the proficiency of students thus, the comparison is fruit for consideration regarding questions surrounding Mastery Learning and accompanying Assessment.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

7.Post-Enrollment Data

Completion Rates

OCSA graduation rates exceed district, county, and state rates. Some student transfers that take place senior year result in a “drop out” for OCSA numbers, but regardless, OCSA is very proud of its high graduation rates. In years where there is a student who stays enrolled in OCSA but does not graduate, it has never been more than one or two students.

Cohort Graduates

Seniors Qualifying for UC/CSU

The percentage of graduates qualifying for UC/CSU school admission has remained fairly steady over the past six years, hovering around 86%. Female graduates typically qualify for UC/CSU at higher rates than their male counterparts (90% vs. 79%). The only ethnic subgroup with rates consistently below the average is our Latino population, with an average of 76% qualifying for UC/CSU over the past six years. This group seemed to be trending upward until the class of 2022, whose rate approximately equaled that of the class of 2017.

IV.STUDENT PERFORMANCE DATA (continued)

Graduates Meeting UC/CSU Course Requirements

Post-Secondary Choices

Each year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, over 95% of graduates have planned on either attending a 4-year university immediately after high school or transferring in after attending a two-year college. The 2020-2021 school year saw a sharp increase in the number of students immediately entering the workplace, likely due to uncertainty around school closures and the proliferation of distance-learning programs in colleges and universities. This number has dropped back down in 2022, suggesting that the 2021 data is a temporary response to the pandemic rather than an enduring trend.

V.SCHOOLWIDE LEARNER OUTCOMES

From fall 2019 through fall 2020, a task force composed of academic teachers, conservatory directors, and administrators met to simplify and streamline the Schoolwide Learner Outcomes. Whereas our previous SLOs consisted of 33 separate abilities, the current SLOs now include six priority goals for learners:

• Wonder: Exercise curiosity and a sense of play to imagine, question, and challenge

• Communicate: Listen and share ideas clearly and mindfully among diverse groups

• Collaborate: Work together to deepen understanding, build community, and empower others to do the same

• Problem-Solve: Employ various methods of reasoning, perspectives, and sources of knowledge to explore solutions

• Create: Embrace the creative practice of innovation, risk-taking, and the evolution of ideas

• Reflect: Practice self-awareness, empathy, and balance to encourage personal growth

The following data were taken from the Spring 2022 Stakeholder Surveys, which were administered to students, parents, teachers, and support staff. Respondents were asked to rate the extent to which OCSA prepares students for these SLOs on a four-point Likert scale.

methods

reasoning, perspectives, and sources of knowledge to explore solutions

of innovation, risk-taking, and the evolution of ideas

The responses indicate that the majority of stakeholders believe that the OCSA experience is well-aligned to our Schoolwide Learner Outcomes. Teachers demonstrated the most confidence that the SLOs are being taught, followed by parents and then students. Among the six SLOs, “Create” and “Reflect” generally received the lowest number of “agree” or “strongly agree” responses, suggesting that these goals may be an area of focus and growth in the future.

VI.PERCEPTION DATA

During the 2021-2022 school year, several surveys were administered to students, parents, teachers, and staff in order to gauge the effectiveness of OCSA’s instruction and culture:

• 2022 Student Survey

• 2022 Parent Survey

• 2022 Teacher Survey

• 2022 Support Staff Survey

• 2022 Employee Journey Survey

Below is a summary of some of the key takeaways from these surveys; more complete survey results are included in the appendices.

1.Survey Takeaways Regarding Instruction

Areas of Strength:

• Students feel that their classes are rigorous, relevant, and productive. 83% of students say their classes are relevant and meaningful, over 90% say their classes challenge them to think, and 90% say their classes are safe, creative, and productive learning environments.

• The Schoolwide Learner Outcomes (SLOs) are effectively embedded into instruction (even if they aren’t always explicitly pointed out within the lesson). Over 95% of teachers are confident that their classes are aligned to each of the SLOs. The vast majority of parents and students also agree that OCSA is preparing students for the SLOs.

• A pandemic positive to celebrate: over three-fourths of teachers reported that their instructional practices have improved as a result of distance learning.

• Nearly 90% of teachers are satisfied with the resources and feedback they receive regarding their instruction.

• Approximately three-quarters of teachers are satisfied with the support they receive to support students with accommodations (IEPs, 504s, SSTs), and over 80% are satisfied with the support they receive to implement culturally and linguistically relevant teaching (CLRT).

• Over three-fourths of SPED students feel they are well supported with their IEP/504 needs.

Areas of Growth:

• Our efforts to implement CLRT have been partially successful. 83% of White students, 76% of Asian students, 70% of Hispanic/Latino students, and 56% of Black students believe that the curriculum reflects their cultural beliefs, ethnicity, and identity. While these data reveal that a majority of students feel represented in the curriculum, we still have room for growth in this area.

• Students struggle with the workload. Approximately half of students say they spend over 2 hours per day outside of class working on academics, and about 20% say they spend over 2 hours per day outside of class working on their art/conservatory work. Considering the long school day and the significant commute that many of our students face, this leaves little time for other non-school endeavors.

• Teachers expressed a need for more collaboration time, particularly interdisciplinary collaboration. While over 85% of teachers reported that they regularly collaborate with teachers in their department, only about a quarter regularly collaborate with colleagues outside their department. 58% of teachers believe that there is not adequate time designated for collaboration within the work week.

• While a majority of teachers and students feel adequately supported in CLRT and special education, there is still room for growth in ensuring all teachers can effectively meet the diverse needs of their students.

2.Survey Takeaways Regarding School Culture

Areas of Strength:

• Approximately 85% of students, 87% of teachers, and 93% of parents agree that OCSA is a safe, welcoming, and inclusive place for students and staff.

• Approximately 85% of teachers describe a spirit of collegiality among OCSA staff.

• Approximately three-quarters of teachers are satisfied with the support they receive in handling student disciplinary issues.

Areas of Growth:

• Nearly one-third of students are dissatisfied with the support they receive for their social-emotional needs.

• While a majority of teachers feel adequately supported in disciplinary issues, there is still room for growth in ensuring all teachers feel that they have administrative backup in these situations.

1.Implications of the Data

• Over the past six years, OCSA has maintained strong academic and post-secondary performance even as it has continued to expand program offerings (both academic and conservatory) and increase and diversify enrollment.

• Our staff are highly qualified and well educated, though it remains a priority to diversify our staff so that we can better reflect the diversity of the student body.

• As throughout the world, the transition to distance learning from March 2020 through June 2021 has caused learning losses, an uptick in mental health struggles, and a decreased sense of community.

• OCSA’s EL population has seen substantial increases, further heightening the need for programmatic support and teacher training.

• In general, our students achieve at higher levels in the humanities and struggle more in STEM.

• Our students with disabilities, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and students of color (particularly Hispanic/Latino students) perform lower on standardized tests and may receive disciplinary consequences at higher rates than their peers.

2.Preliminary Major Student Learner Needs

Areas of Strength:

1. Improve achievement of subgroups including students with disabilities, English learners, and BIPOC students.

2. Improve math proficiency across groups and grade levels.

3. Help students achieve balance, manage stress, and develop emotional resilience.

3.Questions for Discussion in Focus Groups

• How consistent are our practices across different departments and grade levels?

• Which students are supported? Which students aren’t?

• As we return from distance learning, what new patterns are emerging?

SELF-STUDY FINDINGS Chapter 3

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES

A1. Vision and Purpose Criterion

The school has a clearly stated vision and mission (purpose) based on its student needs, current educational research, including equity, diversity, and inclusion, the district Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), and the belief that all students can achieve at high academic levels. Supported by the governing board and the district LCAP, the school’s purpose is defined further by schoolwide learner outcomes and the academic standards.

A1.1. Vision - Mission - Schoolwide Learner Outcomes - Profile

The school has established a clear, coherent vision and mission (purpose) of what students should know and demonstrate; it is based upon high-quality standards and is congruent with research, practices, the student/ community profile data, a belief that all students can learn and be college and career ready, and aligned with district goals for students.

Findings

OCSA has an established mission statement, vision statement, and list of four core values, all of which are discussed with staff annually and communicated on an ongoing basis. The schoolwide learner outcomes, which were collaboratively developed by academic staff, conservatory staff, and school leadership, are posted in every classroom. These goals are all tailored to our unique student body of artist-scholars, with a strong emphasis on nurturing both students’ intellectual skills and artistic passions.

At a more departmental level, each academic and conservatory program has examined state standards, identified key disciplinary skills/knowledge, and coordinated a vertically aligned pathway to ensure a robust continuum of learning across grade levels. Teachers utilize common assessments to evaluate progress and effectiveness.

Supporting Evidence

OCSA Mission, Vision, and Core Values

OCSA Schoolwide Learner Outcomes

Academic Curriculum Maps

A1.2. Development/Refinement of Vision, Mission, Schoolwide Learner Outcomes

There are effective processes in place to ensure involvement of all stakeholders in the development and periodic refinement of the vision, mission, and schoolwide learner outcomes.

Findings Supporting Evidence

During the 2019-2020 school year, OCSA convened a task force to revise the schoolwide learner outcomes. This task force was composed of representatives from a range of academic and artistic disciplines to ensure that the SLOs reflected learning goals across curricular areas.

The range of stakeholders are regularly and meaningfully involved in reflection and decision making. Weekly task force meetings are open to all OCSA staff and engage participants in collaborative decision making around school operations, culture, and assessment practices. Surveys are administered throughout the year to gather feedback from students, families, and staff.

In the Fall of 2019, OCSA conducted stakeholder meetings to solicit input for the development of the next 5 year strategic plan. All groups met with Ally Levin to gain insight into the needs of the school, and develop a cohesive vision for the next strategic plan.

SLO revision task force notes

Task force meeting notes:

• Operations committee

• Culture committee

• Grading and assessment task force

Strategic Plan Executive Summary

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

A1.3. Understanding of Vision, Mission, Schoolwide Learner Outcomes, District LCAP

Students, parents, and other stakeholders of the school and business community demonstrate understanding of and commitment to the vision, mission, the schoolwide learner outcomes, and the district LCAP.

Findings

Each spring, an LCAP survey is administered via our parent support organization and weekly newsletter in order to solicit stakeholder feedback and identify instructional needs. This survey includes items to assess not only general effectiveness of instruction and culture, but also specific items to address the school’s commitment to the mission, vision, and SLOs.

Supporting Evidence

LCAP

Spring 2022 Stakeholder Surveys

A2. Governance Criterion

The governing board (a) has policies and bylaws and the school’s purpose is aligned with them to support the achievement of the schoolwide learner outcomes, academic standards, and college- and career-readiness standards based on data-driven instructional decisions for the school; (b) delegates implementation of these policies to the professional staff; and (c) monitors results regularly and approves the single schoolwide action plan/ SPSA and its relationship to the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).

A2.1. Understanding the Role of the Governing Board and District Administration

The school community understands the governing authority’s role, including how stakeholders can be involved.

Findings

OCSA Board of Trustee meeting schedules are posted both online and at the school campus. Board meeting agendas and minutes are available on the school website. Weekly email communications to the school community frequently reference Board of Trustee decisions.

A2.2. Relationship Between Governing Board and School

Supporting Evidence

OCSA Board of Trustees webpage and meeting documentation

Example of Performer and Patron Policy communication

The school’s stakeholders understand the relationship between the governing board’s decisions, expectations, and initiatives that guide the work of the school.

Findings

The board has established an organizational structure which clearly defines roles and responsibilities in regards to program development, monitoring, and assessment. This organizational structure is outlined in our Board Policies and Procedures.

As of fall 2022, Gary Humphreys, one of our board members, is working closely with OCSA’s electives department in order to clarify expectations, build community, and increase alignment among departments.

Supporting Evidence

OCSA Board of Trustees webpage and Board Policies and Procedures

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES

A2.3. Uniform Complaint Procedures

The school leadership understands and utilizes the Uniform Complaint Procedures from the district.

Findings

The Uniform Complaint Procedures poster is hung in staff work rooms across the OCSA campus.

The Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) has the primary responsibility to ensure compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations governing educational programs and shall investigate complaints alleging noncompliance with such laws and regulations. OCSA encourages the early, informal resolution of complaints whenever possible and appropriate. In the event a complaint cannot be resolved informally, OCSA has adopted a uniform system of processing complaints in accordance with Title 5 California Code of Regulations Section 4621. OCSA’s uniform complaint policy shall be used to investigate and resolve the following complaints:

• Violation of applicable state or federal law related to instructional programs, special education programs, and pupil fees

• Complaints alleging unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying in OCSA programs and activities against any person based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, or physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression; the perception of one or more of such characteristics; or association with a person or a group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics

• Complaints related to noncompliance with the requirement to provide reasonable accommodation to a lactating student on school campus to express breast milk, breastfeed an infant child, or address other breastfeeding-related needs of the student

• Any complaint alleging that OCSA has not complied with legal requirements related to the implementation of the local control and accountability plan

• Any complaint alleging retaliation against a complainant or other participant in the complaint process or anyone who has acted to uncover or report a violation subject to this policy

• Any complaint, by or on behalf of any student who is a foster youth alleging OCSA noncompliance with Education Code Section 48850 subdivision (a)(3)(A) Complaints regarding allegations of conduct violation of applicable state and federal law and regulations may be submitted in writing to any OCSA management employee, or directed to the OCSA Assistant Principal of Facilities and Supervision, OCSA’s Compliance Officer, who shall investigate the complaint and respond to complainant OCSA has also adopted a nondiscrimination policy which states that the school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, age, or disability. OCSA takes steps to assure that the lack of English will not be a barrier to admission and participation in school programs. Like the Universal Complaint Procedures, OCSA has designated the Assistant Principal of Facilities and Supervision to handle complaints regarding discrimination, harassment, intimidation, bullying, issues related to Title IX compliance, and to answer inquiries regarding OCSA’s nondiscrimination policies. These policies and procedures are communicated on the school’s website, and available to any stakeholder who requests a copy

Supporting Evidence

Uniform Complaint Procedures poster

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

A3. Leadership: Data-Informed Decision-Making and Continuous School Improvement Criterion

Based on multiple sources of data, the school leadership, parent/community, and staff make decisions and initiate activities that focus on all students achieving the schoolwide learner outcomes, academic standards, and collegeand career-readiness standards. The school leadership and staff annually monitor and refine the schoolwide action plan/SPSA and make recommendations to modify the LCAP as needed.

A3.1. Broad-Based, Inclusive, and Collaborative

The school’s broad-based, inclusive, collaborative planning process is a continuous improvement cycle that a) assesses data to determine student needs, b) collaboratively determines and implements strategies and actions and c) monitors results and impact on student success.

Findings

Weekly task force meetings are open to all OCSA staff and engage participants in collaborative decision making around school operations, culture, and assessment practices. Agendas, minutes, and progress are posted in weekly Administrivia emails to the staff.

OCSA utilizes a co-teaching model to collaborate and implement strategies to improve inclusivity of all students.

The NWEA MAP Test given in English and Math as an assessment to determine student needs - this test was first administered during the 2021-2022 school year, with plans to provide additional training to teachers to analyze the data and understand how we can use it to address student needs.

CAASPP data is gathered and discussed to inform how well our students are doing overall. Each year, student achievement data is presented to the Board of Trustees and teachers to develop points to work on each year.

PLC groups are expected to analyze student common assessment data once a grading period to determine student needs and ensure alignment.

A3.2. School Action Plan / SPSA Correlated to Student Learning

Supporting Evidence

Task force meeting notes:

• Operations committee

• Culture committee

• Grading and assessment task force

Co-teaching expectations

Sample report for NWEA MAP growth testing in literature and composition

CAASPP data presented to academic teaching staff

PLC Expectations and Summary Form

The school’s schoolwide action plan/SPSA is directly correlated to and driven by the analysis of student achievement data and other data and aligned with district LCAP.

Findings

Each spring, an LCAP survey is administered via our parent support organization and weekly newsletter in order to solicit stakeholder feedback and identify instructional needs. The data collected from this survey, along with other data such as CAASPP scores, attendance records, and grading records, are used to drive the development of the LCAP.

Supporting Evidence

LCAP

Spring 2022 Stakeholder Surveys

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

A3.3. Collective Accountability to Support Learning

The school leadership and staff demonstrate shared decision-making, responsibility, and self-reflection on actions and accountability for implementing practices, programs, actions, and services that support student learning.

Findings

Weekly task force meetings are open to all OCSA staff and engage participants in collaborative decision making around school operations, culture, and assessment practices. At these meetings, staff discuss a wide range of topics such as grading practices, homework policies, safety protocols, community-building, and more. Furthermore, leaders of the teacher union meet with our CEO, COO, and principal on a monthly basis in order to collaboratively evaluate and set expectations for teachers.

OCSA embraces a team-based approach to supporting and accommodating struggling students. A broad team of teachers, specialists, counselors, families, and administrators collaboratively engage in determining eligibility for services and designing a support plan. Additional special services staff (school psychologists, mental health clinician, and multiple case carriers and paraeducators) have been hired in recent years in order to expand and diversify the available team members.

Teacher evaluation heavily emphasizes personal reflection and goal-setting. At the end of each year, teachers are prompted to self-identify their strengths and growth areas in the classroom, and they share ideas for future goals to increase their effectiveness as educators.

A3.4. Internal Communication and Planning

Supporting Evidence

Task force meeting notes:

• Operations committee

• Culture committee

• Grading and assessment task force

Special Services Site

ELL (LitComp) & SPED support and accommodation documents (ex. 1, 2, 3)

Year-end teacher reflection

The school has effective existing structures for internal communication, planning, and resolving differences.

Findings

OCSA utilizes a consistent set of technological tools to communicate effectively with staff schoolwide. Every Monday, the administrative team sends out an “Administrivia” email with the week’s key announcements, reminders, and celebrations. Meeting calendars and agendas are posted for preview, review, and planning purposes. All teachers belong to an OCSA staff Google Classroom.

Ongoing resources are similarly made available online. A Staff Resources page serves as the central hub for information, and our special services department has their own website to clarify roles and procedures.

Additionally, OCSA maintains a consistent meeting structure to create opportunities for collaborative reflection and planning. Friday mornings are reserved for PLCs (which allow for flexible grouping in response to teacher needs), curriculum team meetings, and staff meetings. Optional committee meetings are held on Wednesday afternoons.

Supporting Evidence

Meeting and School Event Calendar

Staff Meeting Agendas

Administrivia Newsletters

Staff Resources page

Special Services Site

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

A4. Staff: Qualified and Professional Development Criterion

Qualified staff and leadership facilitate achievement of the student academic standards and the schoolwide learner outcomes through a system of preparation, induction, and ongoing professional development. There is a systematic approach to continuous improvement through professional development based on student performance data, student needs, and research.

A4.1. Qualifications and Preparation of Staff

The school has confidence in district and school procedures to ensure that leadership and staff are qualified based on staff background, training, and preparation. The processes to assign staff members and provide appropriate orientation for all assignments maximizes the expertise of the staff members in relation to impact on quality student learning.

Findings

Qualifications: All of OCSA’s academic staff hold appropriate teaching credentials. OCSA has partnered with OCDE (Orange County Department of Education) to provide CTE credentialing for all elective and conservatory staff, with the expectation that 100% of our teachers will be credentialed by the fall of 2025.

Orientation and assignments: All OCSA staff - both academic and conservatory - start the school year at OCSA Ignite, which serves as a vision- and community-building kickoff to the school year. This event is particularly crucial for our new teachers as they handle logistics, meet team members and school leadership, and generally learn what OCSA is about. Further training is available in onboarding videos, which dive into both OCSA policies and general best practices for the classroom. All first and second year academic teachers go through an Induction program offered by OCDE, under the mentorship of a veteran OCSA teacher. Each spring, teachers fill out an Intent to Return form to notify the school (1) if they’d like to return the following year and (2) which courses they’d prefer to teach. This allows school leadership to be strategic in building the master schedule and assigning teachers to positions where they’ll be most effective.

A4.2. Professional Development and Learning

Supporting Evidence

Qualifications:

CTE Credential Program

Employee Policies and Procedures Handbook

Onboarding: OCSA Ignite

Onboarding videos

Induction support program

Teaching assignments: Intent to Return form

The school effectively supports professional development/learning with time, personnel, material, and fiscal resources to facilitate all students achieving the academic, college- and career-readiness standards, and the schoolwide learner outcomes.

Findings

All academic and elective teachers participate in three professional development trainings annually, two in the fall and one in the spring. Traditionally, these trainings engage teachers in work around curriculum design, pedagogical practices, and/or assessment strategies. Depending upon the pd focus, we will either tap into the expertise of our own teachers or partner with individuals and organizations outside of OCSA.

Conservatory teachers participate in the first fall pd day with academic and elective teachers, but have two separate days devoted to their unique needs.

Supporting Evidence

UDL training (2022-23)

Conservatory PD on SPED (fall 2022)

CLRT training (2021-22)

Not Light But Fire book study (2020-21)

Actively Learn training (2019-20)

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

A4.3. Measurable Effect of Professional Development on Student Learning

There are effective processes in place to assess the measurable effect of professional development on teacher practice and the impact it has on student performance.

Findings

Teachers are required to submit yearly professional growth goals and to periodically participate in professional growth groups related to those goals. The goals are reviewed by their supervising administrator and each group meeting is facilitated by an administrator; the identified goals become a part of the end-of-year evaluation conversation, as well. Surveys are distributed to staff at the conclusion of a PD series to solicit feedback about the effectiveness of the series and to allow for teachers to provide input on what their needs and interests are.

A4.4. Supervision and Evaluation

Supporting Evidence

Professional Growth Expectations

Professional Growth Goal (2022-23)

Post-PD Survey (2021-22)

The school implements effective supervision and evaluation procedures in order to promote professional growth of staff.

Findings

Evaluation procedures are outlined in the CBA and stipulate that teachers who have worked at OCSA for more than 3 years will be formally evaluated at least once every two years. Recently, we have begun redesigning our evaluation protocols to better reflect our core values and SLOs and to provide for richer, more reflective conversations between teacher and evaluator. While the evaluation standards reflect the CSTPs, they are more closely modeled on the Teaching for Robust Understanding (TRU) framework. As part of the evaluative conversations, teachers are given the opportunity to reflect verbally and in writing with their evaluator on their pedagogical strengths and areas for growth.

Conservatory teachers are hourly employees and are not part of the CBA. These teachers are evaluated by their conservatory directors who utilize a similar procedure for annual evaluations that reflect CTE standards, state and national arts frameworks, and our core values and SLOs.

Supporting Evidence

CBA

Academic Observation/Evaluation Form (2022-23)

Sample observation feedback email End-of-year reflection form

Conservatory Observation/Evaluation Form (2022-23)

A4.5. Communication and Understanding of School Policies and Procedures

The school implements a clear system to communicate administrator and faculty written policies, procedures, and handbooks that define responsibilities, operational practices, decision-making processes, and relationships of leadership and staff.

Findings Supporting Evidence

All staff receive a weekly notification, Administrivia, informing them of upcoming events and recapping committee meetings. Additionally, a Staff Resources digital folder with links to all policies, procedures, forms, and handbooks is accessible to all staff. Monthly staff meetings are held with all academic and elective teachers; the agendas and slides for those meetings are available in the Google Classroom that those teachers are expected to join at the beginning of the year. This Classroom also contains links to PD documents, handbooks, and resources previously mentioned.

Staff Resources

Employee Handbook

Staff meeting agendas

Administrivia

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

A5.1. Resource Allocation Decisions

The human, material, physical, and financial resources are sufficient and utilized effectively and appropriately in accordance with the legal intent of the program(s) and LCAP to support students in accomplishing the schoolwide learner outcomes, academic standards, and college- and career-readiness standards.

A5.1. Resource Allocation Decisions

The school leadership and staff are involved in the resource allocation decisions. There is a relationship between the decisions about resource allocations, the district’s LCAP and the school schoolwide action plan/SPSA, the school’s vision, mission, the schoolwide learner outcomes, major student learner needs, academic standards, and college- and career-readiness standards.

Findings

Allocations are determined through a needs-based assessment based on established arts and academic goals. At the expenditure level, all purchasing decisions are made by arts and academic administration and approved by the school’s Business Office.

Conservator y and academic budgets are communicated by the Chief Operations Officer in the spring of each year to arts and academic administration so that budgets for the following school year can be developed for approval in June by the governing board.

A5.2. Practices

Supporting Evidence

Board of Trustees meeting minutes

LCFF budget overview

ESSER III Expenditure Plan

ELO Expenditure Plan

Epicenter Submissions to OCDE (charter authorizer)

There are district processes and practices in place for developing an annual budget, conducting an annual audit, and at all times conducting quality business and accounting practices. Findings

The annual budget is developed through a collaborative process involving the school staff and the school’s Board of Trustees and Finance Committee. The budget approved is consistent with state guidelines and is monitored throughout the year by the governing board and the school’s Finance Committee. Each year an annual audit is held and the results are reported to the chartering entity, the CDE, and the school’s BOT. As required by law, OCSA submits interim financial reports, audit reports, and annual financial documents to the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE).

Supporting Evidence

OCDE annual review documents

Epicenter Submissions to OCDE (charter authorizer)

2022 OCSA Financial Audit Report

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

A5.3. Facilities Conducive to Learning

The school’s facilities are safe, functional, well-maintained, and adequate to meet the students’ learning needs and support the educational program (i.e., accomplish the vision, mission, and the schoolwide learner outcomes).

Findings

Our school has 11 buildings which house over 100 rooms that can be utilized for instruction. Wifi is available across campus to staff members and for the use of schoolissued devices, such as Chromebooks. OCSA also has two professional theaters, one black box, and one television production studio. There are also 10 science labs, 16 dance studios, 2 recording studios, 3 piano labs, 5 graphic-design computer labs, 2 photography labs, and a ceramics studio - these facilities allow us to nurture students’ growth both academically and artistically (vision/mission). The Orange County Department of Education conducts annual inspections of the facilities using the standard Facility Inspection Tool (FIT).

OCSA has a well-established safety plan that is regularly reviewed both by school leadership and the Operations Committee. Emergency protocol posters are available in every classroom; protocols are reviewed during the first week of school, and emergency drills are held each semester during both the academic and conservatory portions of the day. All instructional spaces are peanut- and tree nut-free to ensure students with allergies can safely learn in all classrooms.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, OCSA has adopted clear protocols to ensure that students are kept as safe as possible. The health office oversees testing and quarantine expectations, and when COVID numbers were higher, various protocols were in place to ensure student safety during performances, including performer COVID testing, mandatory masking for performers and/or patrons, and required vaccination and/or negative test for patrons.

OCSA also maintains an extensive supervision system daily before school, with security and administration supervising during lunch and after school. Middle school students who cannot be picked up immediately after school are supervised in Homework Club. Our IT department maintains internet safety filters to ensure students can only access school-appropriate content, and students/parents are advised about internet safety practices in the student handbook. Uniform Complaint Procedures are posted throughout campus.

If there are any facilities needs or concerns, staff can submit a facilities ticket via our goFMX system. This allows maintenance staff to prioritize and address requests in a timely fashion. The Operations Committee also provides an avenue for staff to share feedback on facilities with school leadership.

Supporting Evidence

Parent/Student Handbook

COVID safety/cleanliness policies (1, 2, 3)

Emergency posters

Duty schedule and position descriptions: 1, 2, 3, 4

Campus map

FIT 2021-2022

Daily Bell Schedule

goFMX system

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

A5.4. Instructional Materials and Equipment

The policies and procedures for acquiring and maintaining adequate instructional materials and equipment, such as textbooks, other printed materials, instructional technology, manipulatives, and laboratory materials are effective.

Findings

OCSA has policies in place to ensure that instructional materials are adequate. All academic classrooms are equipped with Chromecarts containing class sets of Chromebooks. Textbooks are purchased in both print and digital copies to ensure inclusive access to content. Each teacher has a budget for classroom supplies each year and can apply for PSO grants for supplemental materials. Science classes have budgets for lab materials through the annual Fleet Grant. Curriculum leads are surveyed annually to monitor instructional needs and allocate resources accordingly.

OCSA maintains licenses for several instructional tech services. Gale’s Student Resources in Context and Research in Context databases provide a starting place when conducting research in the absence of a traditional library. All teachers have access to Google Suite, Actively Learn, Pear Deck, Turnitin, Akindi, Screencastify, and Formative to aid in instruction and assessment. The math department also uses Edulastic to administer and analyze assessments. Instructional tech is maintained by our IT department, and teachers can submit tickets via goFMX for prompt responses.

OCSA’s arts conservatories are budgeted by Conservatory Funding Agreements (OCSA is tuition free, donation dependent) and all materials requests are filtered through the Business Office. Parent groups such as Encore help to fund school wide initiatives and events such as College Fair.

A5.5. Resources for Personnel

Supporting Evidence

Curriculum leads annual survey on instructional needs

Check requests and purchase orders

PSO grant application

Educational technology resources

goFMX system

Resources are available and used to enable the hiring, nurturing, and ongoing professional development of a wellqualified personnel for all programs.

Findings

OCSA pays for its new academic teachers to be a part of the Induction Support (BTSA) consortium through the Orange County Department of Education. Conservatory and elective teachers are similarly provided CTE credentialing support through OCDE.

Funds for AP training, conferences, and technology training are also available to curriculum teams. The conservatory and academic programs both have grant programs designed to support professional growth and arts/academic collaboration.

Professional development days are scheduled throughout the year, covering topics such as culturally and linguistically relevant teaching, supporting students’ mental health needs, special education, and universal design for learning.

During the hiring process, same-subject teachers and curriculum leads are invited to be part of the interview panel. This ensures that new hires are a good fit for our staff and gives teachers a voice in hiring decisions.

Supporting Evidence

Induction support program

CTE Credential Program

PSO grant application

Artist teacher fellowship award

I. CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES

A6. Resources Criterion [Charter Schools only]

The governing authority and the school leadership execute responsible resource planning for the future. The school has developed policies, procedures, and internal controls for managing the financial operations that meet state laws, generally accepted practices, and ethical standards. The school is fiscally solvent and uses sound and ethical accounting practices (budgeting/monitoring, internal controls, audits, fiscal health, and reporting).

A6.1. Long-range Financial (and Other Resources) Plan and Stakeholder Involvement

The school regularly involves stakeholders in the review of its long-range plan/capital needs (and other resources) in relation to the school’s vision, mission, and schoolwide learner outcomes. Decisions about resource allocation are directly related to the school’s vision, mission, and schoolwide learner outcomes.

Findings

The school financial plan consists of a 5-year pro-forma based on estimated funding rates from the state. The current budget is approved in June and is recast in January each fiscal year. The income statement is monitored on a monthly basis to ensure the school’s finances are tracking to the approved budget. The school’s budget contains annual operational capital expenditures and also multi-year capital expenditures.

A6.2. Regular Accounting and External Audit Procedures

Supporting Evidence

Finance committee meeting agenda and documents

The school has written policy that defines internal controls, contracts, regular accounting, and external audit procedures.

Findings

The school’s finances are reviewed by an accounting/audit firm in an interim review in June with the full financial audit in the fall of each year. Results of this audit are shared with school stakeholders and reported to the chartering entity and the California Department of Education.

A6.3. Processes for Implementation of Financial Practices

Supporting Evidence

Audit report / Board of Trustees minutes

The school employs accountability measures to assure that personnel follow fiscal policies and procedures.

Findings

The school has established approved Fiscal Policies which address all aspects of procedures relative to the control of the school’s resources. Defined checks and balances are in place to ensure that all school funds are protected and that the fiscal policies are consistent with accepted accounting procedures and internal controls. These policies include information relative to all bank accounts, bank reconciliations, payroll accounts, check writing and credit card use procedures.

Supporting Evidence

Fiscal Policies

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

A6.4. Budgeting Process - Transparency

The school develops and monitors its annual budgeting process to ensure transparency and stakeholder involvement.

Findings

The school budget is developed with the input from the entire OCSA management team and is reviewed during the development cycle by both the governing BOT and the Finance Committee. The budget is annually approved as a public session item in our June BOT meeting. Each year, the annual budget is available to any stakeholder group that should request it. Input from the community is solicited through the annual LCAP process. Staff is available to explain the various budget revenue and expense items as required.

Supporting Evidence

Board of Trustees meeting minutes

LCFF budget overview

Conservatory Funding Agreement meeting slides - sample for Ballet & Contemporary Dance

ESSER III Expenditure Plan

ELO Expenditure Plan

A6.5. Adequate Compensation, Staffing, Reserves

The school governing body provides adequate compensation to faculty, administrators, and staff; adequate staffing for the school’s program; and reasonable accumulation of reserves.

Findings

The school provides compensation to the OCSA staff that is consistent with those same positions in a traditional public, non-charter setting. The school’s goal is to hire and retain the best possible employees. The school has had no problem attracting the best possible candidates for our school when an open position is available.

Supporting Evidence

Certificated teacher salary schedule 2022-2023

Certificated teacher contract and benefits

I. CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

A6.6. Marketing Strategies

The school has marketing strategies to support the implementation of the developmental program, including research and information to help develop future planning.

Findings

Orange County School of the Arts employs a staff of nine full-time employees to create and implement a variety of marketing and communication efforts. These positions include a Vice President of Communications, Director of Marketing, Director of Public Relations, Public Relations Manager, two Marketing Associates, a Public Relations Associate, and two Graphic Designers.

Under the guidance and direction of the Foundation Board of Directors, the OCSA marketing team has developed a comprehensive short- and long-term strategic plan focusing on the school’s Capital Campaign, Sustainability, Enriched/Expanded Programs, Expanded Influence, and Campus/Community Culture.

The marketing team uses a variety of marketing and public relations channels to communicate with internal and external audiences. These channels include the school’s website, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and email communications), traditional media relations, Art Attack, as well as posters distributed around campus.

A6.7. Informing the Public and Appropriate Authorities

Supporting Evidence

OCSA Foundation staff page

Communications Guidelines

Vision 2025 strategic plan

Social media:

Instagram: @weareocsa

Twitter: @weareocsa

Facebook: @weareocsa

YouTube: @weareocsa

The governing authorities and school leaders inform the public and appropriate governmental authorities about the financial needs of the organization.

Findings

All school business is approved in the monthly public Board of Trustees meetings. All meeting protocols are consistent with the Brown Act. Meeting agendas and minutes are available upon request from the school’s business office. Parents are informed of their conservatory’s financial needs during our Community Funding presentations each spring.

Supporting Evidence

Board of Trustees meeting minutes

Conservatory Funding Agreement meeting slides - sample for Ballet & Contemporary Dance

I.CATEGORY A: ORGANIZATION: VISION AND PURPOSE, GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP, STAFF, AND RESOURCES (continued)

Category A. Organization: Vision and Purpose, Governance, Leadership, Staff, and Resources: Synthesize Strengths and Growth Needs

The human, material, physical, and financial resources are sufficient and utilized effectively and appropriately in accordance with the legal intent of the program(s) and LCAP to support students in accomplishing the schoolwide learner outcomes, academic standards, and college- and career-readiness standards.

Areas of Strength

1. Clear vision and mission that people are aware of

a. Guides instructional decisions - students are able to give feedback based on that and hold us accountable

b. Redefined and redeveloped SLO’s - especially compared to the 36+ list previously

2. Stakeholders have a voice - specifically:

a. Committees on Wednesday - Grading, Operation, and Culture

b. Everyone who wants to have a voice, has a voice - people have the opportunity to engage and have agency to give input

c. Surveying of stakeholders - we do a lot of them - everyone has a chance to be heard

d. Strategic planning, LCAP, WASC, etc. surveys

3. Data driven decisions to support student needs and learning

a. Providing summer school - would this be more curriculum and instruction - maybe it’s in continuous, standardized, reflective student improvement and needs - accountability to support student learning

b. CAASPP, MAP, Child Find, etc.

c. Increased support for social emotional needs and SEL - teachers in classroom as well as Special Services, Counseling, etc., Wellness Seminar, Special Services reorganization and increase of services

d. Maintaining and expanding Office Hours

Areas of Growth

1. On-going Professional Development

a. Clarify the process for access to Professional Development opportunities and grants (deadlines? grants? etc.) - ensure that PD is accessible and maybe opportunities or grants are flexible in regards to deadlines, dates, etc. to support teacher and student learning

b. Clear, transparent teacher evaluation process with clarity in rubric, what’s being assessed, etc. - both on academic side and conservatory and elective

c. Professional development on how to write goals - SMART or otherwise - especially in conservatory

2. Communication and closing the loop - directionality of communication

a. Relationship between Governing Board and operations of the school - how they came to be, greater transparency

b. Clarifying chain of communication between administration and teachers, roles, responsibilities, etc.

c. Streamline support, policies, procedures and consistency in those supports across academic and conservatory - ex. Academic and Elective Teacher Resource hyperdoc - How do we move from academic, elective, conservatory teachers to Teachers

d. Need for clarity and consistency for student behavior and accountability - referral system, etc. - consistency for implementation of student policies - esp. Post-COVID re-norming

e. Facilities for outdoor physical education - future plans

f. Finding space

II.CATEGORY B: CURRICULUM

B1. Rigorous and Relevant Standards-Based Curriculum Criterion

All students participate in a rigorous, relevant, and coherent standards-based curriculum that supports the achievement of the schoolwide learner outcomes, academic standards, and the college- and career-readiness standards in order to meet graduation requirements.

B1.1. Current Educational Research and Thinking

The school provides an effective, rigorous, relevant and coherent curriculum based on current educational research and thinking that supports the academic standards.

Findings

In the 2021-2022 school year, OCSA has offered school-wide professional development on Culturally and Linguistically Relevant Pedagogy during staff meetings with Dr. Rebecca Harrison. Staff members have worked through various topics like representation, perspectives, culture and community, reflecting on how their pre-existing curriculum and instructional practices account for diverse students and how this might continue to become more inclusive.

OCSA has adopted an ethnic studies / comparative government course as per CA state guidelines. However, no clear guidelines are prepared to support teacher-parent conversations about the political misunderstanding related to the course and clear Ethnic Studies standards are needed to guide the curriculum. Communication between admin and the teacher is needed in order to prioritize material and engage in meaningful PLC.

AP World History and Modern World History use The World History Connected Academic Journal to inform and support pedagogical decisions.

Literature and Composition courses have sought to include new core texts that cover a wide range of diverse perspectives in line with Rudine Sims Bishop’s 1990 research regarding multicultural readings, which posits that books should be “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors”: readings reflect students’ personal experiences and also expose students to others’ experiences. In the past year, curriculum maps reveal that the 7th grade Lit Comp course has worked to diversify the short story curriculum to include more diverse voices (American Indian, AAPI, and Black authors and storylines); 8th grade Lit and Comp has added a new graphic novel (Takei’s They Called Us Enemy about the Incarceration of Japanese Americans in WW2); 9th grade Lit Comp has adopted Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys to discuss racism and the black experience; 10th grade Lit Comp has adopted Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown as a means of discussing immigrant experiences and Asian representation as well as a magical realism short story unit to explore Latinx voices. Changes to these new core texts have been made while ensuring that core skills related to reading and writing are still taught.

Middle School Science uses a standards based grading system within their discovery-focused curriculum in which students work through storylines to solve a real world problem by the end of the unit.

Supporting Evidence

CLRT choice boards used in professional development

Department curriculum maps

Comparative Government syllabus

List of texts read in lit/comp classes

Middle school science grading overview and sample unit plan

B1.2. Academic and College- and Career-Readiness Standards

The school has defined academic standards and college- and career-readiness indicators or standards for each subject area, course, and/or program that meet or exceed graduation requirements.

Findings

OCSA has collaboratively developed clear goals for each academic class that are informed by and aligned to state standards. The math curriculum, College Preparatory Mathematics or CPM, meets California’s Math Standards.

• The science curriculum is aligned to Next Generation Science Standards (at middle/ high school level).

• Social Science curriculum maps are informed by and linked to the History-Social Science Standards for California Public Schools.

• Literature and Composition curriculum maps reflect Common Core ELA standards for reading fiction, reading informational texts, reading foundational skills, writing, speaking & listening, and language.

OCSA Counselors monitor A-G College Entrance Requirements for each student (which exceeds graduation requirements) and work with students twice per year to make sure students are aware of their A-G status and where they are.

B1.3. Congruence with Student Learner Outcomes and Standards

Supporting Evidence

Department curriculum maps

Literature and Composition approaches to writing across grade levels

A-G Subject Area Requirement Worksheet and Four Year Plan

There is congruence between the actual concepts and skills taught, the schoolwide learner outcomes, academic standards, and the college- and career-readiness indicators or standards.

Findings

OCSA measures student growth using state and third-party benchmark exams. Math and literature/composition classes use NWEA’s MAP system to assess student readiness and growth throughout the year. Strong performance on the CAASPP and CAST assessments, despite a recent dip due to pandemic-related learning loss, also suggest alignment between instruction and academic standards.

Curricular materials are evaluated and selected based on alignment to the appropriate academic standards.

The Schoolwide Learner Outcomes (SLOs) are effectively embedded into instruction, although they aren’t always explicitly pointed out within the lesson. According to a spring 2022 stakeholder survey, over 95% of teachers are confident that their classes are aligned to each of the SLOs. The vast majority of parents (>90%) and students (>80%) also agree that OCSA is preparing students for the SLOs.

Supporting Evidence

Sample report for NWEA MAP growth testing in literature and composition

2021 CAASPP scores

Correlation between math curriculum and Common Core State Standards

II.CATEGORY B: CURRICULUM

B1.4. Integration Among Disciplines

There is integration and alignment among academic and career technical disciplines at the school.

Findings

OCSA’s Professional Mentorship Program pairs interested 11th graders with a professional in an area they either wish to pursue as a career or are hoping to explore and learn more about to help them decide which post-secondary focus they may decide to pursue.

Collaboration between academic courses and artistic conservatories is an area for improvement. Collaboration between arts and academics has been limited to nonexistent. While some collaboration may occur between arts and academics, primarily in the case of Creative Writing, larger school-wide collaborations are historically rare -the first major example of this was Symphony of Dreams, a collaboration among Instrumental Music, Classical Voice, Ballet Folklorico, Ballet & Contemporary Dance, and Acting. During spring of the 2021-2022 school year, the Creative Writing and 10th grade Literature and Composition departments collaborated to bring local writer Charles Yu as a guest speaker for OCSA’s Master Artist series. Students in 10th grade read and studied Yu’s novel Interior Chinatown and students in Creative Writing read some of his additional works. Yu answered student questions, discussing his writing process and inspiration. One way to increase academic and artistic crossover would be to continue using the Master Artist series as a vehicle for collaboration.

Supporting Evidence

Professional Mentorship Program application

OCSA Symphony of Dreams

Photos from Master Artist Series Charles Yu visit: 1, 2, 3

B1.5. Community Resources and Articulation and Follow-up Studies

The school engages with community partners and resources, articulates regularly with feeder schools, local colleges and universities, and technical schools. The school uses follow-up studies of graduates and others to learn about the effectiveness of the curricular program.

Findings

OCSA continues to maintain partnerships with institutions of higher education and professional arts organizations throughout Southern California, to ensure access for our students to professional artists, performances and faculty members. Current members of OCSA’s Strategic Partners Advisory Board include: Arts Orange County, Bowers Museum, Chapman University, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, South Coast Repertory, and University of Southern California. OCSA is also an active member of the Arts School Network (ASN), even hosting the annual ASN conference in 2018. OCSA also hosts an annual College Fair on campus with representatives from colleges and universities across the country.

Each arts conservatory has an Advisory Council to provide 1) lectures, demonstrations and master classes for our students; 2) on-site visits for students to observe college-level classes and professional operations; 3) internship opportunities for our students; 4) recommendations on meeting admissions guidelines for university and conservatory acceptance; and 5) advice from industry professionals on specific standards to ensure that the skill sets we are teaching our students are current and meet their needs when they have completed their education.

OCSA uses Naviance’s College Career Readiness curriculum. Career Key assessments are tied to exploration of career pathways and majors, and the alumni tracker enables the school to track pathways of students after they graduate.

Supporting Evidence

College Fair flyer 2021

Example of conservatory advisory board for Musical Theater - scroll down

ASN Conference 2018 description

B2. Equity and Access to Curriculum Criterion

All students have equal access to the school’s entire program and are provided assistance with a personal learning plan to meet the requirements of graduation and are prepared for the pursuit of their academic, personal, and career goals.

B2.1. Variety of Programs - Full Range of Choices

All students are able to make appropriate choices and pursue a full range of realistic college and career and/or other educational options. The school provides for career exploration, preparation for postsecondary education, and pretechnical training for all students.

Findings

OCSA’s student demographics are changing. The ELL population is growing as is the number of students in need of special services. Teachers are in need of added support and curriculum training to meet the changing needs of students.

The Special Services department has expanded to respond to new mandates from the state. Students with 504 Plans, in the SST process, or on home hospital have added support through Study Skills classroom and aide support. However, students on home hospital need a liaison to stay on track-TOSA offering communication support for students on home hospital (currently Maggie Davies, but additional support may be needed depending on volume of students). OCSA is also lacking an emergency homeschool option for students who are ill, have ill parents, need to leave the country or school for one reason or another and want to be able to finish at home rather than take a leave of absence.

IEP students create ITP (Individual Transition Plan) with their case carrier to track college and career choices throughout their high school years.

The counseling staff have annual meetings with all students to choose appropriate classes. Every 9th grader meets individually with their counselor to create a specific 4-year plan which is a fluid document throughout their four years at OCSA. Additionally, NAVIANCE is used to search college and career options. Personality assessments link to career options. Clear basic tracks are needed for non A-G students. Additionally, lower track/bridge classes for math offerings are needed to address knowledge gaps and foundational skills.

B1.3. Congruence with Student Learner Outcomes and Standards

Supporting Evidence

Curriculum handbook showing the following classes offered:

• ELL support class

• Study Skills

• 2-year Integrated I course (Integrated IA)

• Math Strategies

• Lit and Comp Strategies

Peer tutoring program

Office Hours sign-in form

4-year plan document

Naviance career search screenshot

Naviance college search

Sample ITP

There is congruence between the actual concepts and skills taught, the schoolwide learner outcomes, academic standards, and the college- and career-readiness indicators or standards.

Findings

OCSA course offerings provide a wide range of rigorous and relevant opportunities. Courses such as computer science, emergency medicine, and ethnic studies give students opportunities to explore real-world applications of learning and engage in cross-cultural thinking. Within our core academic classes, students analyze real-world data and phenomena in their math and science classes, and our literature/composition teachers strive to incorporate more widely inclusive texts and lenses to ensure that all students feel represented and connected to the curriculum.

Supporting Evidence

Biology - Bottleneck Effect simulation

Emergency Medicine and Care (EMC) syllabus

List of texts read in lit/comp classes

II.CATEGORY B: CURRICULUM

B2.3. Student-Parent-Staff Collaboration

Parents, students, and staff collaborate in developing and monitoring a student’s personal learning plan, including college and career and/or other educational goals.

Findings Supporting Evidence

OCSA hosts an annual College Fair for students to explore post-graduation options. The comprehensive fair features academic and artistic masterclasses, workshops, evening parent sessions, and a booth fair with representatives and industry leaders from many universities. All high school students and parents are encouraged to sign up for relevant topics of interest, which also include navigating application deadlines, crafting personal statements, and applying for financial aid.

OCSA counselors develop a plan with all 9th graders to develop 4- year plans to ensure they are on track to earn a high school diploma and meeting college admission requirements. 91% of graduates are UC/CSU ready. Students work with school counselors each year to develop college and career readiness plans and exploration through group and individual workshops.

All students, staff, and parents have access to Aeries for gradebook updates as well as Aeries Communications.

IEPs, 504s, and SSTs all develop plans through a collaborative effort among staff, parents, and students.

Sample ITP

Sample SST

OCSA College Fair 2021 Save the Date

B2.4. Post High School Transitions

The school implements strategies and programs to facilitate transitions to college, career, and other postsecondary high school options and regularly evaluates their effectiveness.

Findings Supporting Evidence

OCSA’s rigorous environment (particularly the Advanced Placement curriculum offerings) gives students opportunities to learn skills and engage in tasks that prepare them to meet the demands of college. These tasks include inquiry-based lessons that teach students how to navigate online databases, citation methodology, data collections, critical thinking skills, and the application of technological skills. The majority of students who choose to take an AP course (81%) also complete the year-end AP exam to possibly earn college credit. Teachers use a variety of instructional strategies that are selected on the basis of student learning purpose and effectively engage students in high-level learning, particularly through the use of multimedia and technology.

Teachers need better insight to the skills needed (and required) in college-level courses so as to best prepare them for the demands, particularly since rigor and entrance requirements have changed to meet the academic challenges presented by the pandemic. With ACT/SAT scores only required for some colleges/universities, students are under increased pressure to stand out as applicants. This will result in increased enrollment in classes that will be attractive to colleges.

OCSA encourages students to seek out real-world skill-building experiences outside the classroom. For example, OCSA’s year-long professional mentorship program pairs 11th grade students who apply with working professionals in their industry of interest on a voluntary basis. Students have the opportunity to shadow and observe professionals at their workplace and discuss career goals and potential pathways. The Culinary Arts and Hospitality Conservatory offers an internship program to give students real hands-on experience in restaurants, kitchens, and the hospitality industry

The school provides a challenging, coherent, and relevant curriculum for each student that fulfills the school’s purpose and results in student achievement of the schoolwide learner outcomes. However, OCSA needs a metric to measure the effectiveness of the SLOs and their application to real world skills. This could be measured by postgraduation alumni surveys.

Syllabus from CAH internship class: students work in local restaurants after school/weekend

SLO posters provided for each classroom for students and teachers

Professional Mentorship Program application

II.CATEGORY B:

Category B. Curriculum: Synthesize Strengths and Growth Needs

Prioritize and list the strengths and growth areas for the criteria and indicators in Category B.*

Areas of Strength

1. Consistent academic rigor, particularly for AP classes

2. Adequate services are available to support all students, including academic and personal counseling, career, health, and academic assistance.

3. Staff discusses and shares classroom practices during PLCs which allow for greater curriculum development amongst the departments.

4. TOSA offers communication for students on home hospital.

Areas of Growth

1. Clear connection between SLO’s and standards being taught

2. Greater collaboration between conservatories and academics

3. Alignment and consistency across similar elective classes to ensure students are getting the same experiences and skills to reach.

4. School resources can be used more effectively to carry out the school’s purpose and student achievement of the school learners outcomes.

5. There are unclear expectations for how to handle politically-divisive topics and incorporate literature from authors of multiple perspectives, especially since most of them are department-focused (ex/Lit & Comp and History departments teach history of enslavement).

6. School wide Proactive Personal Social/Emotional support and mental health support system is an area of growth. Embedding proactive curriculum with SEL (Social Emotional Learning) and Circles school wide will help improve communication and increase coping mechanisms. Aligning social emotional MTSS with tiered supports academically to support the whole student should be a goal.

7. Supporting and communicating with ELL families and students. - provide school materials and communications translated (outsourced) - Korean, Mandarin, Spanish

8. Clearer guidelines on paths to graduation vs. A-G (state requirements, certificate of completion, OCSA requirements, etc.) - communicated conversations between counselors and teachers and families/students

9. Career Fairs aligned with CTE areas to increase technical/vocational/certification awareness in addition to traditional college pathways.

C1. Student Engagement in Challenging and Relevant Learning Criterion

To achieve the schoolwide learner outcomes, academic standards, and college- and career-readiness standards, all students are involved in challenging and relevant learning experiences in an equity-centered learning environment.

C1.1. Results of Student Observations and Examining Work

All students are involved in challenging and relevant work as evidenced by observations of students working and the examination of student work.

Findings

Across disciplines and grade levels, students are tasked with work that is both intellectually challenging and relevant to real-world scenarios.

In math and science, students engage in projects that challenge them to apply their technical knowledge to real-world problems. In the math projects linked, students (1) use linear systems of equations to model various cell phone plans with different flat rates and data fees per GB in order to analyze what plan would be preferable depending on their family needs and budget, and (2) analyze statistical (scatter plot) data regarding the price of pizzas depending on the number of toppings, by creating a graph, and modeling the relationship with a least square regression line, in order to propose a reasonable pricing plan for a pizza parlor. In the physics projects linked, students (1) engage in a reverse-engineering project to analyze and improve speaker design, and (2) design and optimize the wiring for a hotel room. Student work on these assignments demonstrate a depth of understanding beyond rote repetition - students must think analytically and creatively, connect their learning to the real world, and defend their choices.

Student work in Lit and Comp assignments such as the LC2H Advertising Research Paper reflect independent student choice in response to essential questions/driving questions, a synthesis of challenging reading and thinking tasks, scaffolded learning towards a clear written product. Student work is challenged to reflect multiple perspectives of a historical, cultural, and gender-based awareness. 8th grade Lit and Comp classes employ researched based Critical Reading Strategies and help students to break down and demonstrate critical reading to access, understand, and appreciate a rigorous text that is relevant to current times. As evidenced by 8th and 11th grade student writing samples, students produce coherent writing that reflects structure, evidence, and command of language.

Furthermore, a student survey administered in spring 2022 (discussed in Chapter II of this report) revealed that a majority of students find their classes both challenging (90%) and relevant (83%).

Supporting Evidence

Integrated I Math assignments:

Cell Phone Project - assignment, student work sample 1, student work sample 2

The Pizza Problem - assignment, student work sample 1, student work sample 2

Physics assignments: Magnetic Fields Project - assignment and rubric

Traveling Light Project - student work sample

Literature and Composition assignments:

12th grade Media and Modern Playsstudent work sample for Affinity Culture paper

10th grade LC 2 Honors, Advertising Research Essay - assignment, research guide, student research sample, student essay sample

8th grade LC - student annotations sample, student writing sample

C1.2. Student Understanding of Learning Expectations

All students understand the standards/expected performance levels for each area of study in order to demonstrate learning and college and career readiness.

Findings

In our Lit & Comp and Math departments, we make our essential learning objectives clear in a shared vertical alignment document so that the faculty are on the same page about what is being taught. This also allows us to utilize common vocabulary terms across the curriculum for consistency and reinforcement of learning. CPM (math) curriculum provides opportunities for students to reflect through learning logs multiple times a unit, a summary of the learning objective from previous lessons, and uses space practice to reinforce long term learning. CPM also provides clear learning objectives aligned with the CA Math standards. The problem-based curriculum reinforces problem-solving, and the study team approach requires that students collaborate and communicate with a diverse group of students. In summary, the CPM curriculum gives students multiple opportunities to experience the SLOs in every lesson. Moving forward, the math department considers starting lessons by having students write the learning objectives of the day in their notebooks.

In physics, learning goals are given out at the start of every unit that relates class instructional lessons to the Next Generation Science Standards for physical sciences. Students are prompted to reflect on their learning using these goals as a framework. Unit projects have rubrics that outline specific standards for students to meet expectations. These are mastery based projects, where students receive feedback upon submission and they iterate on their work, repeating this cycle until they meet or exceed standards. To improve on this, students should revisit the learning goals document throughout the unit to reflect on how what they are learning in class corresponds to each stated learning goal. Currently, students may not be revisiting that learning goal document in a meaningful way.

In AP Psychology, students engage in peer grading, allowing them to better understand the defining features of a strong FRQ response and to reflect on their own progress toward those goals.

Across multiple classes, students are provided rubrics for evaluating their progress and engage in regular formative assessment.

Supporting Evidence

Agenda slides - mandated for all courses

Rubrics: Physics project

World language speaking

World language analytical writing

Psychology FRQ scoring guide

Reflections: World language Physics

Literature and composition

Formative Assessments: Polynomials

Vectors

Curriculum Planning: Precalculus curriculum map

Math vertical alignment

LC student exemplars

C2. Student-Centered Instruction Through a Variety of Strategies and Resources Criterion

All teachers use a variety of strategies and resources to create an equity-centered learning environment, including technology and experiences beyond the textbook and the classroom, to actively engage students and emphasize creative and critical thinking skills and applications.

C2.1. Teachers as Facilitators of Learning

Teachers facilitate learning as coaches and are current in the instructional content taught and research-based instructional methodologies including differentiation and the integrated use of technology.

Findings

Our World Language department is a leader in using the latest research-based methodology in second language acquisition, Comprehensible Input. Through our course syllabi one can see the methodology and teaching practices used throughout the course. Course expectations and grading policies reflect the latest research based methodology. Using the latest research based methodology, Comprehensible Input, inherently allows World Language teachers to differentiate their instruction appealing to all types of learners. Teachers use verbal and written language as well as drawings, gestures, and movements to help students acquire language. Some of this instruction can be seen in the slides decks that are used to provide comprehensible input and read a level 1 reader. Students have the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding in a variety of ways. This is illustrated by the listening assessments that have students draw and respond to short answer questions to demonstrate understanding.

Our mathematics department uses the CPM curriculum. Students are organized in study teams and work cooperatively to solve math problems. Instruction is problem based and students use prior knowledge and other resources to create meaning when exposed to new mathematical concepts. Students revisit mathematical concepts at randomly spaced intervals of time to improve skills and develop precision. Math courses help students to develop multiple strategies to solve problems and recognize connections between concepts. Lessons meet all of the content standards and embed the “Mathematical Practices” of the Common Core State Standards (June 2010).

Furthermore, student-directed learning can be observed across departments. Our literature/composition courses incorporate Socratic seminars and BRAWLs regularly, centering student voices and collaborative meaning-making. In social science, students regularly engage in the analysis of primary documents through DBQ-style assignments. And in science, students regularly engage in inquiry labs.

The entire school is committed to the intentional and strategic use of technology, particularly in the aftermath of distance learning. Every classroom is equipped with a class set of Chromebooks, supporting a 1:1 ratio so that all students can utilize online resources and digital tools during class. Teachers across the disciplines use the Actively Learn platform to differentiate instruction and facilitate the co-construction of meaning. All courses in both academics and conservatory utilize Google Classroom and the Google Suite to organize and disseminate course materials.

Supporting Evidence

World language sample syllabus, input slides, and listening assessment

Math team roles, table sheet rubric, CPM student centered focus statement, and sample choice board

LC BRAWL speaking skills rubric

Chemistry inquiry lab

C2.2. Creative and Critical Thinking

All students demonstrate creative and critical thinking within a variety of instructional settings, using a variety of materials, resources, and technology beyond the textbook.

Findings

Teachers use a variety of pedagogical strategies to support student centered learning and their exploration and critical engagement with multi-media resources. Across curricula, students engage materials beyond the textbook, from numerous databases and external curriculum resources. The expectation is that students will apply their learnings through critical thinking analysis and co-create original, evidenced-based arguments.

Across content areas, teachers craft units following common sequencing to support students’ critical thought transitioning from teacher-led direct instruction in support of building analytical skills, to student-centered independent research, and the co-creation of a final original product. For example:

• In LC2, students research, analyze, and evaluate sources to synthesize a TED talk.

• In AP United States Government and Politics, students divide into expert groups based on roles needed for a Moot Court Simulation including Supreme Court Justices, petitioner and respondent attorneys, and journalists to formulate arguments on the limitations of the Legislative Branch’s use of power stemming from the Interstate Commerce Clause.

• In AP U.S History, students are encouraged to stretch their critical thinking skills by approaching historical topics as problems to solve in reading, writing and discussion. Students are given background information on the historical situation (event or processes) through lecture, text and primary source readings. After exploring the topic, students produce arguments and support with evidence, which they then defend in an options debate.

• In U.S. History, students are presented historical choices/dilemmas with historical context and information for multiple arguments. Collaboratively, students focus on one choice, gather evidence, present arguments and defend their positions (sometimes to a deciding authority (president, judge, etc.)

• In AP Psychology, after learning the foundations of research methods, students design their own research experiment. As a class, students present different ideas for research topics and select one experiment - based on interest and practicality. Students then delegate tasks, gather resources, run the experiment using live participants, and analyze data.

• In Science 8, students analyze a variety of fossils from Death Valley to make inferences about environmental changes over time.

Supporting Evidence

Literature and composition TED Talk research activity

AP Government Moot Court simulation

History DBQ directions, outlining guide, and sample assignments (1, 2)

History controversy and debate

AP Psychology research project planner, rubric, and sample report

Science 8 fossil activity

C2.3. Application of Learning

All students demonstrate that they can apply acquired knowledge and skills at higher levels and depths of knowledge to extend learning opportunities.

Findings

Students regularly apply their learning to demonstrate understanding in a variety of settings at various levels of scaffolding. Examples include:

• In world language, students are expected to use their acquired language skills to communicate in various real-world settings.

• In science, students must apply their scientific knowledge to solve real-world engineering problems. Students are encouraged to extend their understanding with optional challenges to optimize their designs.

• In literature/composition, students make connections to literature and practice composition skills by applying literary themes to real-world settings.

C2.4. Career Preparedness and Real World Experience

All students have access to and are engaged in career preparation activities.

Findings

Students at OCSA encounter robust and purposeful career preparation activities through our counseling program, project-based activities in our academic and elective courses, and through career preparation activities in their respective Arts Conservatory courses.

Our counselors hold college and career readiness workshops and meet with students regarding their class schedules each year. Students participate in academic planning designed to facilitate and enable their future college and career plans. The Professional Mentorship program enables students interested in a wide array of career paths to shadow a mentor. And our college fair presents a collaboration between industry professionals, colleges, and OCSA alumni to provide presentations about post-secondary arts and academic opportunities.

Academic and elective coursework provides real-world project-based assignments designed to provide students with a glimpse into future career paths (e.g. engineering activities in math and science, emergency medicine course). Our special education team also annually engages students in a review of their transition plan and discussion of their post-secondary education and career goals. And clubs like Mock Trial give students the opportunity to explore possible career paths outside of a classroom setting.

Furthermore, our arts conservatories offer students a host of opportunities to prepare for a career in the arts. Portfolio and capstone assignments, the Master Artist series, and a variety of other conservatory-specific programs (e.g. ProStart for culinary arts and hospitality, Performing with the Pros for musical theater) give students the experience, connections, and resources they need to pursue a career in their chosen art field.

Supporting Evidence

Chinese menu project

Physics electrical engineering projecttemplate and rubric

LC choice board - applying literary themes to various social roles

Supporting Evidence

College Fair flyer

Precalculus guest speaker on using math in aerospace engineering

Physics circuit engineering project

Sample ITP

Mock Trial promotional video

Master Artist Series flyer

Performing with the Pros video

III.CATEGORY C: LEARNING AND TEACHING

Category C. Learning and Teaching: Synthesize Strengths and Growth Needs

Prioritize and list the strengths and growth areas for the criteria and indicators in Category C.*

Areas of Strength

1. Challenging students to see multiple perspectives and synthesize ideas. Offering student choice and clarifying the relevance of content.

2. Explicitly stating learning objectives.

3. Using the latest research-based methodologies.

4. Using a variety of resources and technology.

5. Common sequencing and pedagogy.

6. Promoting student choice and engaging in meaningful, relevant tasks to demonstrate understanding.

7. Providing a variety of resources for career preparedness across academics, arts, and special services.

8. CTE training for conservatory teachers.

Areas of Growth

1. Make connections between lesson objectives and SLOs clearer.

2. Getting students to use technology more meaningfully.

3. Defending the quality and rigor of instruction while reducing the workload.

4. Increasing resources for vocational pathways and expanding the mentorship program.

IV.CATEGORY D: ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

D1. Reporting and Accountability Process Criterion

The school leadership and instructional staff use effective and equitable assessment processes to collect, disaggregate, analyze, and report schoolwide student performance data to the school staff, students, parents, and other stakeholders. The analysis of data guides the school’s programs and processes, the allocation and usage of resources, and forms the basis for the development of the schoolwide action plan/SPSA aligned with the LCAP.

D1.1. Professionally Acceptable Assessment Process

The school leadership and instructional staff use effective and equitable assessment processes to collect, disaggregate, analyze, and report student performance data to all stakeholders.

Findings

OCSA administers the CAASPP in the spring for 7th, 8th, and 11th grade students and the CAST for 8th and 10th grade students. Once data is released, it is gathered and analyzed by the school leadership team (especially the Assistant Principal of Instruction and Learning Specialist) and put into easy-to-read charts and memos. The data is then communicated to the school community via board meeting and newsletter and teachers are given the data directly to discuss, analyze, and utilize for planning purposes in the fall. SBAC score reports are also distributed to students and parents during on-campus registration as well as filed in their cum files. The data is then uploaded to Aeries.

D1.2. Basis for Determination of Performance Levels

Supporting Evidence

Data collection, disaggregation, and analysis evidence:

Staff meeting presentation

Data analyzed in curriculum teams

Data reporting evidence:

Board of Trustees meeting notes

School Profile

Weekly Wrap

The school leadership and instructional staff have agreed upon the basis for students’ grades, growth, and performance levels to ensure consistency across and within grade levels and content areas.

Findings

The Grading and Assessment Task Force serves as a hub for school wide discussions about grading and assessment practices. Meetings have particularly focused on the notion of mastery grading - what it is, what the rationale is, and how it might look in different disciplinary fields.

Within departments, teachers regularly collaborate within PLCs and curriculum teams to ensure consistency of expectations and both horizontal and vertical alignment. Many PLCs design and administer common assessments with common rubrics, which are then collaboratively analyzed to ensure that all teachers have similar expectations for student performance. Teachers also collaborate across departments to ensure consistency of expectations: for example, the lit/comp, social studies, and science teams have aligned in their expectations for argument writing and have adopted identical language (state-support-explain vs. claim-evidence-reasoning) to ensure consistency in both instruction and assessment.

Each conservatory has a well-defined scope and sequence to ensure vertical alignment and appropriate pre-professional preparation throughout the program. Placement activities have clearly delineated rubrics to ensure that all students meet an appropriate baseline and can be artistically successful at OCSA.

Supporting Evidence

Grading & Assessment Task Force notes

Grading categories in world language and vertically aligned essential understandings

Math 3 pacing guide and shared syllabus

Middle school science shared unit plan

Examples of common assessments: DBQ rubric and LEQ rubric for AP World History and AP US History

Sample conservatory scope and sequence: Commercial Dance

IV.CATEGORY D: ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY (continued)

D1.3. Monitoring of Student Growth

The school has an effective system to determine and monitor all students’ growth and progress toward meeting the schoolwide learner outcomes/graduate profile, academic standards, and college- and career-readiness indicators or standards.

Findings

Students’ class performance and grades are recorded in Aeries, allowing students, families, teachers, and staff to monitor student progress.

Counselors meet individually with students on their caseload at least once per year to discuss progress toward graduation and preparation for college. Since our last WASC cycle, two additional high school counselors have been hired in order to reduce each counselor’s caseload and ensure that they can have meaningful conversations.

In addition to yearly meetings, all counselors generate a report via Aeries after every progress report to see which students are currently earning D’s and F’s. Counselors will typically meet with those students to check in and reiterate goals and expectations.

IEP students create an ITP (Individual Transition Plan) with their case carrier to track college and career choices throughout their high school years. This plan allows IEP students and their case carriers to monitor goals, progress toward graduation, and college/career expectations.

D1.4. Assessment of Program Areas

Supporting Evidence

Four Year Plan - document completed with counselor during 9th grade meeting

Sample ITP

In partnership with district leadership, the school leadership and instructional staff periodically assess programs and expectations, including graduation requirements, credits, course completion, and homework and grading policies, to ensure student needs are met through a challenging, coherent, and relevant curriculum.

Findings

The Grading and Assessment Task Force provides a monthly platform for teachers, conservatory directors, and administrators to review assessment data and practices and discuss appropriate modifications. Homework policies have shifted over the past few years in response to the pandemic and distance learning - OCSA leadership mandated a no-homework policy during virtual learning, with many teachers still striving to minimize homework even after returning to campus. Program offerings are regularly discussed in weekly executive leadership meetings, with school administration discussing options for students on home hospital, independent study, and more.

Course curricula and policies are also assessed and modified in light of changing standards. Our middle school science team completely restructured their program in response to the Next Generation Science Standards - the curriculum is now integrated, mastery-based, and integrates both content and skills assessments into their contextualized performance tasks. The math team, likewise, has adopted an integrated CPM curriculum based on assessment data in order to ensure students develop both procedural and conceptual fluency, collaborate more meaningfully, and build connections among various mathematical concepts. The math team also uses MAP assessment data to determine appropriate placements for incoming students.

Supporting Evidence

Grading & Assessment Task Force notes

Middle school science parent letter

IV.CATEGORY D: ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY (continued)

D1.5. Schoolwide Modifications Based on Assessment Results

The school uses assessment results to make changes in the school program, professional development activities, and resource allocations demonstrating a results-driven continuous school improvement process.

Findings

School program offerings have expanded based on identified gaps and growth areas in the assessment data. Based on survey data and students’ reported mental health needs, OCSA established a Wellness Seminar course to provide students with the social and mental health support needed to access classroom instruction. Assessment gaps for our students with 504 plans and executive functioning struggles led to the development of a Study Skills class. Assessment data showing student strengths and interests have also led to expanded offerings such as AP Chinese, AP Capstone, Emergency Medicine and Care, and a host of artistic course offerings.

Assessment data have also driven school wide decisions about professional development and resource allocation. Discrepancies in assessment data among racial groups led to OCSA prioritizing culturally and linguistically relevant teaching (CLRT) for professional development from 2020-2022. These gaps, along with gaps in the assessment data for our special education population, have led the school to prioritize Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and mastery-based practices for professional development from 2022 onward. Our LCAP is also heavily driven by gaps in student performance and reflects a responsive allocation of funds and time.

Supporting Evidence

Curriculum Handbook

Co-teaching resource page

CLRT choice boards used in professional development

LCAP 2022-2023

D2. Using Student Assessment Strategies to Monitor and Modify Learning in the Classroom Criterion

Teachers employ a variety of appropriate formative and summative assessment strategies to evaluate student learning. Students and teachers use these findings to modify the learning/teaching practices to improve student learning.

D2.1. Demonstration of Student Achievement

Teachers use the analysis of formative and summative assessments to guide, modify, and adjust curricular and instructional approaches.

Findings

Teachers regularly incorporate both formative and summative assessments into instruction. Educational technology resources such as PearDeck, Actively Learn, Formative, and Akindi allow teachers to easily monitor students’ progress, address common misconceptions, and modify instruction in real time to optimize student learning. The math team uses Edulastic and the lit/comp team uses Membean for similar purposes.

On a broader level, PLCs and curriculum teams regularly engage in data analysis. Most PLCs design and administer common assessments, collaboratively analyze the results, and adjust instruction accordingly. Professional growth groups serve as a platform for teachers to engage in interdisciplinary discussions about student progress and analyze data to assess the effectiveness of new instructional strategies.

School wide, the Grading and Assessment Task Force is engaging in a multi-year process of discussing best practices in assessment and determining how curriculum and instruction should evolve in order to align with these practices.

D1.5. Schoolwide Modifications Based on Assessment Results

Supporting Evidence

Educational technology resources

Akindi screenshot

Grading categories in world language

Math 3 pacing guide

Examples of common assessments: DBQ rubric and LEQ rubric for AP World History and AP US History

Professional growth group notes

Grading & Assessment Task Force notes

The school uses assessment results to make changes in the school program, professional development activities, and resource allocations demonstrating a results-driven continuous school improvement process.

Findings

OCSA teachers begin the feedback loop by providing clear expectations for student learning. Many teachers provide students with rubrics prior to assigning work so that students have a clear understanding of the assignment expectations. These rubrics then become a tool for both teacher feedback and peer feedback to ensure transparency of assessment practices and support student connections between feedback and learning.

Formative and summative assessments are regularly offered across disciplines. Many teachers also offer opportunities for revisions or reassessments so that students can immediately apply feedback and recognize that assessments are tools for learning.

Students have frequent opportunities to provide feedback on their learning experiences. Lit/comp teachers highly prioritize metacognition as a tool both for student learning and for teachers to assess students’ engagement with the class. Many teachers administer feedback surveys regularly in order to elicit student input, monitor progress, and analyze student thinking around their learning experiences.

Supporting Evidence

Student performance rubrics: AP Macroeconomics FRQ rubric

Physics project rubric

Lit/comp Gatsby essay rubric

World language writing rubric

Student feedback and reflection: Critical fiction reading metacognitionsample student response

Spanish end-of-unit reflection

Lit/comp sample quiz corrections

IV.CATEGORY D: ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY (continued)

Category D. Assessment and Accountability: Synthesize Strengths and Growth Needs

Prioritize and list the strengths and growth areas for the criteria and indicators in Category D.*

Areas of Strength

1. Common assessments exist in every curricular area and every grade level. But not completely integrated.

2. Common grade weighting and grading categories exists in some curricular areas

3. Grading task force is doing good work. Curriculum leads are reading a book about mastery based grading

4. Our grading practices support a growth mindset.

Areas of Growth

1. Conservatory and elective programs may need more support, visibility and resources in working toward using common assessment data to drive curricular changes.

2. Formalize the process of collecting and analyzing data across academic, elective and conservatory programs. Because we do not have that formalized process, we don’t always do this. Currently, we “trust” all of our various curricular groups to define how to do this.

3. Because of the pandemic, we have not had an opportunity to talk as an entire school of how to better incorporate our SLOs.

4. Rolling out the grade task force work to the entire school. Are grading expectations aligned with student needs?

V.CATEGORY E: SCHOOL CULTURE AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENT PERSONAL, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC GROWTH

E1. Parent and Community Engagement Criterion

The school leadership employs a wide range of culturally sensitive strategies to encourage family and community involvement, especially with the learning/teaching process.

E1.1. Parent Engagement

The school implements strategies and processes for the regular involvement of all stakeholder support groups in the learning and teaching process for all students.

Findings

Teachers are expected to maintain communications with parents in multiple ways: Maintaining daily agenda slides, linked on Aeries and publicly accessible, so parents can see what’s happening in class.

• Maintaining a Google Classroom, which parents can request access to, which houses all class materials.

• Aeries Communications (ParentSquare), which includes a translation feature for greater accessibility.

• Back to School Night presentations at the beginning of the year.

• Specific disciplines have additional methods of involving parents. For example, the math team uses the CPM curriculum and links a parent guide on the agenda slides, which gives parents insight into the curriculum and ways to support their child’s learning. IEP, 504, and SST teams also involve parents in conversations about their child’s progress and needed supports.

The school as a whole involves parents in a variety of ways, including:

• Weekly Wrap emails each Friday

• Maintaining a comprehensive website with news, announcements, contacts, calendar, etc.

• Parent involvement in students’ four-year planning meetings with counselors

• Conservatory support groups (PACs) and conservatory funding nights

Parents also choose to get involved in a variety of ways, including:

• People Supporting OCSA (PSO), which not only supports school operations but also hosts parent education nights

• Community outreach programs such as the Dragon Kim Foundation, CSArts Academy, Camp OCSA, and the Gluck Foundation

• Serving as professional mentors and/or guest artists

Supporting Evidence

Sample of a Daily Agenda

Video of a Back to School Night presentation

CPM parent guide (English and Spanish)

Weekly Wrap email

PSO Parent Education Night flyer

Camp OCSA Scholarship Flyer (available in English and Spanish)

Link to how to send a translated message in AERIES Communications

V.CATEGORY E: SCHOOL CULTURE AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENT PERSONAL, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC GROWTH (continued)

E2. School Culture and Environment Criterion

The school leadership focuses on continuous school improvement by providing a safe, clean, and orderly place that nurtures learning and developing a culture that is characterized by trust, professionalism, equity, and high expectations for all students

E2.1. Safe, Clean, and Orderly Environment

The school has existing policies and regulations and uses its resources to ensure a safe, clean, and orderly place that nurtures learning, including internet safety and Uniform Complaint Procedures.

Findings

OCSA has a well-established safety plan that is regularly reviewed both by school leadership and the Operations Committee. Emergency protocol posters are available in every classroom; protocols are reviewed during the first week of school, and emergency drills are held each semester during both the academic and conservatory portions of the day. All instructional spaces are peanut- and tree nut-free to ensure students with allergies can safely learn in all classrooms.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, OCSA has adopted clear protocols to ensure that students are kept as safe as possible. The health office oversees testing and quarantine expectations, and when COVID numbers were higher, various protocols were in place to ensure student safety during performances, including performer COVID testing, mandatory masking for performers and/or patrons, and required vaccination and/or negative test for patrons.

OCSA also maintains an extensive supervision system daily before school, with security and administration supervising during lunch and after school. Middle school students who cannot be picked up immediately after school are supervised in Homework Club. The campus is secured by:

• Full time Santa Ana School Police officer

• Security officers are assigned in various locations before, during, and after school, and on weekends as needed

• Traffic control

• Electronic door lock system

• Security cameras both inside and outside the buildings

Our IT department maintains internet safety filters to ensure students can only access school-appropriate content, and students/parents are advised about internet safety practices in the student handbook. Uniform Complaint Procedures are posted throughout campus. The OCSA Student Handbook defines and prohibits physical, verbal, cyber and psychological bullying. The Student Handbook defines appropriate use of the internet and consequences of inappropriate use. The Photo and Video Release form serves to inform students and parents how photos of student likeness and/or art will be used by OCSA.

Supporting Evidence

Parent/Student Handbook

COVID safety/cleanliness policies (1, 2, 3)

Emergency posters

Duty schedule and position descriptions: 1, 2, 3, 4

Campus map (for parking, boundaries, pick-up/drop-off rules)

Daily Bell Schedule

Academic Year Calendar

V.CATEGORY E: SCHOOL CULTURE AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENT PERSONAL, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC GROWTH (continued)

E2.2. High Expectations/Concern for All Students

The school culture demonstrates caring, concern, and high expectations for all students in an environment that honors individual differences, social emotional needs, and is conducive to learning.

Findings

The curriculum handbook demonstrates a variety of rigorous course offerings in both arts and academics, as well as a number of courses (e.g. academic lab, study skills) that offer support to help students reach those expectations. Students are supported in creating individual high school academic plans tailored to their personal post-secondary goals, and a wide array of electives are available to ensure students can pursue a rigorous course of study regardless of their interests. Honors organizations, such as NHS, CSF, and Spanish Honor Society, are available and popular. Consequently, over 86% of our graduates are UC/CSU eligible.

OCSA has long encouraged students to express their individuality. Our artist-scholars express themselves through their fashion choices (Halloween is unlike anywhere else), and their gender identity is supported through the use of chosen names/pronouns and access to all-gender restrooms. A wide array of clubs are available so that students can find “their people” and celebrate their unique passions. Teachers demonstrate care for their students’ emotional well-being as well as their academics, as evidenced by frequent check-ins and opportunities for discussion and personal connection in the classroom.

In recent years, OCSA has particularly focused on celebrating cultural differences through the work of our Coalition for Antiracism and Inclusion. Our lit/comp team has led the way in diversifying the texts studied to ensure all students feel seen and represented in the curriculum.

Supporting Evidence

Student check-in form/feedback survey

Daily check-in questions (Team Questions)

Club Listing

OCSA Halloween video

Coalition for Anti-Racism and Inclusion

Lit and Comp text changes: implementation plan; text proposals

Spanish Honor Society Constitution text

Curriculum Handbook

V.CATEGORY E: SCHOOL CULTURE AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENT PERSONAL, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC GROWTH (continued)

E2.3. Atmosphere of Trust, Respect, and Professionalism

The entire school community has an atmosphere of trust, respect, equity, and professionalism.

“Administrivia” emails are sent by the administrative team weekly to keep all teachers informed about what is happening and any tasks that need to be completed. A meeting schedule is established at the start of the school year that allows staff members to be aware of meetings well in advance in order to plan and prepare for attendance. Teachers are offered the flexibility and professional trust to set their own agendas for PLCs. This demonstrates professionalism and respect for teachers’ busy schedules and sets the tone for organization and structure, which guides each meeting.

Each year, teachers are empowered to define their own professional growth goals. These goals are updated in Google Docs and access is given in order for the supervisor and teacher to monitor progress at their own pace. Observations are made and data is gathered to discuss areas of strength and areas for growth. Expectations about this process are clearly communicated, and all documents are shared. This creates an open, respectful process that fosters positive results. OCSATA (under the guidance of CTA) engages in negotiations as a collective bargaining unit to ensure a fair and equitable work environment for staff and students.

Multiple surveys are available throughout the course of the year allowing all parties mentioned multiple opportunities to provide feedback enabling OCSA to stay abreast of current and potential concerns. These surveys are involved in a reflection process, and action is taken to address any areas for improvement that are identified by the surveys.

Students, similarly, and treated with respect and professionalism. The admissions process honors students’ talents and ensures they are well-equipped to grow artistically and academically at OCSA. The artistic and academic achievements of students, staff, and alumni are celebrated in the State of the Art. OCSA has also established a Coalition for Antiracism and Inclusion to further ensure that students are treated equitably; one of the outgrowths of this coalition has been the E-Culture board, which assembles the leaders of all cultural clubs on campus to get their feedback and input on OCSA’s school culture and policies.

PLC Reflection Guide

Task force meeting notes: Operations committee Culture committee

Grading and assessment task force

Admission policy: overview and guidelines

Coalition for Anti-Racism and Inclusion

E-Culture board meeting notes

State of the Art

V.CATEGORY E: SCHOOL CULTURE AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENT PERSONAL, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC GROWTH (continued)

E3. Personal, Social-Emotional, and Academic Student Support Criterion

All students receive appropriate academic, social-emotional and multi-tiered supports to help ensure student learning, college and career readiness and success. Students with special talents and/or needs have access to an equitable system of personal support services, activities, and opportunities at the school and in the community.

E3.1. Academic Support Strategies for Students

School leadership develop and implement strategies and personalized, multi-tiered support approaches to meet academic student needs.

Findings

OCSA offers a variety of academic elective courses so that students are able to make individualized academic choices to fit their personal academic and/or career goals. Within the conservatory schedule, students are also able to choose certain courses that support individualized career and/or personal goals. All students create an individualized four year high school academic plan that is tailored to their postsecondary goals and individual strengths and interests. In addition, most conservatory programs allow students to have input into their advanced course selection based on level and/or interest.

All students have access to extra teacher support during Office Hours. Additionally, students have access to free Peer Tutoring through our CSF and NHS clubs.

Teachers are empowered to offer appropriate personalized support within their own classroom. Professional development from 2022-2024 will focus on Universal Design for Learning so that teachers can learn and implement strategies that will offer options within the classroom and better meet the needs of all learners. Our Lit and Comp team in particular has been leading the way in identifying a continuum of tiered supports for students in reading and writing.

Supporting Evidence

Curriculum Handbook

Lit and Comp document outlining tiers of support and types of reading and writing accommodations (graphic organizers)

Office Hours sign-in form

Professional development on Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

V.CATEGORY E: SCHOOL CULTURE AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENT PERSONAL, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC GROWTH (continued)

E3.2. Multi-Tiered Support Strategies for Students

School leadership develops and implements alternative instructional options and personalized, multi-tiered approaches to student support focused on learning and social emotional needs of all students.

Findings

OCSA uses a three-tiered pyramid of intervention to support all students.

Tier One is what is already happening in the classroom (regular classroom interventions and differentiation for both struggling and advanced learners). Strategies at this level also include the use of office hours (available to all students) and restorative practices as needed.

Tier Two is reached when it is determined that more specific interventions need to be implemented based on the individual needs of a student. An SST (Student Study Team) meeting is scheduled with teachers, administration, and parents to discuss interventions that have been implemented and a plan is written for providing more specific interventions to support the student. Peer tutoring is also available for students who need more dedicated support.

Tier Three is reached when a child is still not succeeding regardless of the specific interventions implemented in class, at school, and/or at home. Another meeting is scheduled to analyze data and revisit personalized interventions. Students may be referred to Special Education for testing at this level. Special education support classes include academic lab, study skills, math or lit/comp strategies, and wellness seminars. A test center is available for students who need more time and/or support for assessment.

Supporting Evidence

Office Hours sign-in form

Special Services website

Curriculum handbook showing the following classes offered:

• Academic Lab

• Study Skills

• Wellness Seminar

• ELL support class

• 2-year Integrated I course (Integrated IA)

• Math Strategies

• Lit and Comp Strategies

V.CATEGORY E: SCHOOL CULTURE AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENT PERSONAL, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC GROWTH (continued)

E3.2. Multi-Tiered Support Strategies for Students

School leadership develops and implements alternative instructional options and personalized, multi-tiered approaches to student support focused on learning and social emotional needs of all students.

Findings

OCSA issues progress report grades every six weeks to ensure frequent monitoring and communication about student achievement. Teachers are expected to have a minimum of three new entries in the gradebook per progress report. After each progress report, counselors meet individually with each student earning Ds or Fs in their classes to discuss challenges and determine next steps for success. Students earning Ds or Fs in conservatory also meet individually with their conservatory director.

Students are expected to sign into Office Hours when they attend so that school leadership can monitor how frequently a student attends Office Hours, whose class they attend, and what they work on. These data are used in conversations with students to help them understand the relationship between Office Hours and academic progress and strategize how best to use this time.

Students who progress to Tier 2 support frequently enter the SST (Student Study Team) program. This team-based approach to student support places a strong emphasis on data. Teachers provide baseline data on student performance before the SST begins, the team determines how to collect data to monitor the effectiveness of the support plan, and the team reconvenes to share data on the student’s performance with the support plan in place. Classroom observations are also used to collect evidence about a student’s performance and needs.

Students who require Tier 3 support and enter into the special services program are monitored particularly closely. IEP case carriers and Study Skills teachers have weekly conversations with students about their academic progress and help them plan their time and priorities for the week ahead. Annual and triennial IEP reviews ensure that a student’s whole team can monitor progress and determine appropriate support.

Supporting Evidence

Office Hours sign-in form

Sample SST notes

Sample ITP

V.CATEGORY E: SCHOOL CULTURE AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENT PERSONAL, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC GROWTH (continued)

E3.4. Co-Curricular Activities

The school ensures there is a high level of student involvement in curricular and co-curricular activities that link to schoolwide learner outcomes, academic standards, and college- and career-readiness standards.

Findings

OCSA offers over 160 clubs for students to pursue their passions and connect with like-minded peers. These clubs range in focus from academics, arts, community service, culture, faith, fandoms, honor societies, lifestyle, and civic engagement. A number of these clubs - including Science Olympiad, Mock Trial, Junior State of America, and Robotics - provide opportunities for students to engage in rigorous competitions and conventions to showcase their talents. CSF and NHS members engage in peer tutoring and other community service opportunities.

The conservatory classes offer co-curricular activities to all of our student body that link to the academic standards and schoolwide learner outcomes. This ensures that our students are involved in a variety of activities that provide challenging and authentic opportunities to get involved in their own disciplines. A number of conservatories also participate in competitions, such as ProStart for our Culinary Arts students and Dancesport for our Ballroom students.

Students also have a number of co-curricular opportunities to practice the schoolwide learner outcomes. Our middle school Science Olympiad is run as a co-curricular program, and the class engages students in the Science Olympiad program while also aligning to NGSS. The student leadership classes (both high school Leadership and middle school PAL) facilitate school spirit and community throughout the student body by providing student-run fairs, spirit days, and fundraisers. The yearbook and journalism classes further document student life in the context of the larger community and build connections. OCSA also partners with OCEAA, a nearby elementary school, to create opportunities for our students to tutor and mentor younger children.

OCSA hosts an annual College Fair for students to explore post-graduation options. The comprehensive fair features academic and artistic masterclasses, workshops, evening parent sessions, and a booth fair with representatives and industry leaders from many universities. All high school students and parents are encouraged to sign up for relevant topics of interest, which also include navigating application deadlines, crafting personal statements, and applying for financial aid. OCSA’s Professional Mentorship Program pairs interested 11th graders with a professional in an area they either wish to pursue as a career or are hoping to explore and learn more about to help them decide which postsecondary focus they may decide to pursue.

Supporting Evidence

OCSA club list fall 2022

Science Olympiad and competition results, Mock Trial

Leadership syllabus

OCSA College Fair

Professional Mentorship Program application

V.CATEGORY E: SCHOOL CULTURE AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENT PERSONAL, SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL, AND ACADEMIC GROWTH (continued)

E3.5. Student Voice

Students deepen their sense of self and make personal and community connections that are meaningful and relevant and allow students to become advocates for their own needs and supports.

Findings

Students are regularly empowered and encouraged to use their voice, particularly through their art form. The school frequently hosts exhibits and displays of student artwork both on and off campus. Students are invited to engage in open mic nights and spoken word performances, write and perform their own plays, screen their own films at nearby Chapman University, choreograph their own dance performances in the spring, and more. Students’ artistic achievements are celebrated in the State of the Art.

Students are also empowered to effect change through academic co-curricular and extracurricular programs. The student leadership classes (both high school Leadership and middle school PAL) facilitate school spirit and community throughout the student body by providing student-run fairs, spirit days, and fundraisers. The yearbook and journalism classes further document student life in the context of the larger community and build connections. The Art Attack, OCSA’s daily announcements broadcast, is run by students and keeps the school community informed and engaged. The Student Council and the E-Culture board create spaces for students to discuss student life and school policy. And MSquad creates a deeper sense of community and belonging for our middle school students.

Supporting Evidence

State of the Art

Visual arts exhibits, Open Mic Night flyer, OC RYSE

Leadership syllabus

Student newspaper: Evolution

MSquad activity example: Door decorating contest

Art Attack (student-run daily broadcast): PDF and livestream

E-Culture board meeting notes

Category E. School Culture and Support for Student Personal, Social-Emotional, and Academic Growth: Synthesize Strengths and Growth Needs

Prioritize and list the strengths and growth areas for the criteria and indicators in Category E.*

Areas of Strength

1. Increased staff dedicated to supporting students’ mental health needs.

2. Open committee meetings and increased transparency between academic, conservatory, and elective teachers, and administration.

3. Consistent practices across arts and academics with the use of agenda slides.

4. OCSA is committed to an inclusive environment and institutional commitment to CLRT.

5. Wide array of diverse clubs.

Areas of Growth

1. Conservatory and elective programs may need more support, visibility and resources in working toward Re-norming is needed to address campus safety, behavior, and culture concerns (parent/student/staff).

2. Continued community building as a staff, within and across departments, and within and across conservatories.

3. Schoolwide MTSS implementation.

4. Improve follow-through with CLRT related work and PD.

I.MATRIX OF STRENGTHS AND GROWTH AREAS BY CATEGORY

Category A: Organization: Vision & Purpose, Governance, Leadership, Staff, and Resources

Category B: Curriculum

Strengths

• Clear vision and mission that people are aware of.

• Stakeholders have a voice.

• Data-driven decisions to support student needs and learning.

• Adequate services are available to support all students, including academic and personal counseling, career, health, and academic assistance.

• Consistent academic rigor, particularly for AP classes.

• Course offerings like wellness seminar, co-teaching, and study skills.

• Staff discusses and shares classroom practices during PLC, which allows for greater curriculum development amongst the departments.

Areas of Growth

• Ongoing professional development.

• Communication and closing the loop - directionality of communication.

• Adequate and appropriate facilities, equipment, and support materials (both general and discipline-specific) for student learning.

• Clarify expectations for handling politically-divisive topics and incorporating literature from authors of diverse perspectives.

• Greater collaboration between conservatories and academics.

• Clearer connections between SLOs and standards being taught.

• School resources can be used more effectively to carry out the school’s purpose and student achievement of the SLOs.

• Proactive SEL programs/services.

• Expand online access to curriculum.

• Supporting/communicating with ELL families.

• Alignment and consistency across similar elective classes to ensure students are getting the same experiences and skills

• Clarity and resources for textbook adoption and/or creation of curricular materials.

• Career fairs aligned with CTE areas to increase vocational/certification awareness in addition to traditional college pathways.

• Clearer guidelines on paths to graduation.

Category C: Learning and Teaching

• Challenging students to see multiple perspectives and synthesize ideas. Offering student choice and clarifying the relevance of content.

• Explicitly stating learning objectives.

• Using the latest research-based methodologies.

• Using a variety of resources and technology.

• Common sequencing and pedagogy.

• Promoting student choice and engaging in meaningful, relevant tasks to demonstrate understanding.

• Providing a variety of resources for career preparedness across academics, arts, and special services.

• CTE training for conservatory teachers.

• Make connections between lesson objectives and SLOs clearer.

• Getting students to use technology more meaningfully.

• Defending the quality and rigor of instruction while reducing the workload.

• Increasing resources for vocational pathways and expanding the mentorship program.

I.MATRIX OF STRENGTHS AND GROWTH AREAS BY CATEGORY (continued)

Category D: Assessment and Accountability

• Common assessments exist in every curricular area and every grade level, although they’re not fully integrated.

• Common grade weighting and grading categories exist in some curricular areas.

• The grading and assessment task force is having valuable conversations; curriculum leads are reading Grading for Equity.

• Grading practices support a growth mindset.

• Conservatory and elective programs may need more support, visibility, and resources in working toward using common assessment data to drive curricular changes.

• Formalize the process of collecting and analyzing data across academic, elective and conservatory programs. Because we do not have that formalized process, we don’t always do this. Currently, we “trust” all of our various curricular groups to define how to do this.

• Because of the pandemic, we have not had an opportunity to talk as an entire school of how to better incorporate our SLOs.

• Rolling out the grade task force work to the entire school. Are grading expectations aligned with student needs?

•

Category E: School Culture and Support for Student Personal, SocialEmotional, and Academic Growth

• Increased staff dedicated to supporting students’ mental health needs.

• Open committee meetings and increased transparency in Administrivia.

• Consistent Google Classroom usage across arts and academics.

• School’s commitment to an inclusive environment and institutional commitment to CLRT.

• Wide array of diverse clubs.

• Need to renorm to address campus safety, behavior, and culture concerns.

• Continued community building as a staff, within and across departments/conservatories.

• Schoolwide MTSS implementation.

• Improve follow-through with CLRT-related work and PD.

• Re-implement consistent practices for student accountability.

II.THEMES

Areas of Strength

• OCSA offers a rigorous academic program with an array of challenging courses, research-based methodology, meaningful instructional tasks, and common assessments.

• OCSA is committed to supporting students through counseling and mental health services, a robust special services program, and course offerings that prioritize students’ individual needs.

• OCSA is a collaborative community in which stakeholders have a voice, staff have opportunities to share best practices, and leadership offers frequent communication to families and staff.

Areas of Growth

• OCSA would benefit from offering more consistent SEL support both during class and through proactive social-emotional programming.

• OCSA can better serve specific populations: English learners, students interested in vocational pathways, etc.

• OCSA would benefit from intentional community building, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic, both among students and among staff (and particularly across departments).

• OCSA can expand professional growth and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.

• OCSA would benefit from incorporating the SLOs more intentionally into instruction.

III.MAJOR STUDENT LEARNER NEEDS

1. Improve achievement of subgroups including students with disabilities, English learners, and BIPOC students.

2. Improve math proficiency across groups and grade levels.

3. Help students achieve balance, manage stress, and develop emotional resilience.

SCHOOLWIDE ACTION PLAN Chapter 5

I.SCHOOLWIDE ACTION PLAN

Growth Area #1: Promote inclusive, equitable learning opportunities by “teaching to the edges” and supporting universal access to the curriculum in all courses.

Rationale

• CAASPP results show that students with disabilities meet standards at rates 20-30% lower than the schoolwide average. Gains from 2021 (virtual learning) to 2022 (in person) were minimal or even negative for students with disabilities.

• CAASPP results also show that English learners meet standards at rates 30-50% lower than their Englishfluent peers; the majority of our English learners do not meet state standards of proficiency in either ELA or math.

• CAASPP results show racial disparities in student performance, with Hispanic/Latino students demonstrating proficiency at significantly lower rates than their Asian and White peers.

• Focus group B identified a need for greater support and communication with our non-English speaking students and families.

• Focus group E identified a need to improve our follow-through with CLRT-related work.

• Aligned to LCAP goal #1 (Raise the number of middle school students meeting CAASPP standards in mathematics by 5%) and #2 (Develop a scalable curriculum to support students with English Learner needs. Implement that curriculum and raise CAASPP ELA scores by 5%).

Related Student Learner Needs and SLOs

Student Learner Needs

• Improve achievement of subgroups including students with disabilities, English learners, and BIPOC students.

Schoolwide Learner Outcomes

• Communicate: Listen and share ideas clearly and mindfully among diverse groups

• Collaborate: Work together to deepen understanding, build community, and empower others to do the same

• Problem-Solve: Employ various methods of reasoning, perspectives, and sources of knowledge to explore solutions

• Reflect: Practice self-awareness, empathy, and balance to encourage personal growth

Assessment and Monitoring of Progress

Key indicators of progress towards this goal include:

• CAASPP data and school grades: Look for improved scores among students with disabilities, English learners, and students of color as indicators of improved learning opportunities.

• Teachers’ professional growth goals and PLC conversations: Look for implementation of more inclusive practices and resources.

• Stakeholder feedback: Look for responses that suggest that students feel more supported, both academically and personally, in the classroom.

I.SCHOOLWIDE ACTION PLAN (continued)

Timeline of Action Plan

Action Item

Develop curriculum and provide professional development for Read/Write EL class.

Who is Responsible?

AP of Instruction

Review teacher credentials for working with ELs and provide professional development.

Provide professional development to all conservatory teachers around special education practices.

Provide professional development to all academic/elective staff around Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

Teachers will develop yearly professional growth goals around expanding access to the curriculum; admin will provide feedback and support on these goals.

Implement professional growth groups and other flexible collaboration opportunities so that teachers can share best practices in instruction.

Provide professional development to conservatory directors around culturally and linguistically relevant teaching (CLRT).

Pilot ethnic studies curriculum in 9th grade global studies course.

AP of Instruction

AP of Arts, AP of Special Services

AP of Instruction, Learning Specialist

Administrative team, teachers

Principal, AP of Instruction, Learning Specialist

AP of Arts, AP of Instruction

AP of Instruction

Relevant Dates

Resources Needed

Fall 2022 and ongoing PD fees

Fall 2022 and ongoing PD fees; technology (e.g. lapel microphones for captioning)

Fall 2022

Fall 2022 through spring 2024

Fall 2022 through spring 2024

Fall 2022 and ongoing

Spring 2023

Pilot starting fall 2023 Release day for global studies teachers

Growth Area #2: Develop a schoolwide vision and aligned practices around the purpose/ meaning of assessment and grades in order to support feedback and learning.

Rationale

• Semester grade data over the past four years show significant discrepancies in grade distributions between subject areas. Over the past four years, approximately 55% of the grades given in math and science classes were A’s, whereas 93.5% of the grades given in special services classes were A’s. At this time, we don’t have a clear schoolwide consensus on the meaning or components of grades.

• Our spring 2022 teacher survey asked teachers whether “the grades [their] colleagues assign are an accurate reflection of their students’ knowledge and abilities.” Over 35% of teachers responded that they didn’t know how accurate their colleagues’ grades were, and over 6% disagreed or strongly disagreed, indicating a need for conversation and alignment in this area.

• Focus group D identified a need to make sure grading expectations are well aligned to student needs, as well as a need for more consistent data collection/analysis practices across the school.

• Aligned to LCAP goal #1 (Raise the number of middle school students meeting CAASPP standards in mathematics by 5%) and #2 (Develop a scalable curriculum to support students with English Learner needs. Implement that curriculum and raise CAASPP ELA scores by 5%).

Related Student Learner Needs and SLOs

Student Learner Needs

• Improve achievement of subgroups including students with disabilities, English learners, and BIPOC students.

• Improve math proficiency across groups and grade levels.

• Help students achieve balance, manage stress, and develop emotional resilience.

Schoolwide Learner Outcomes

• Communicate: Listen and share ideas clearly and mindfully among diverse groups

• Problem-Solve: Employ various methods of reasoning, perspectives, and sources of knowledge to explore solutions

• Create: Embrace the creative practice of innovation, risk-taking, and the evolution of ideas

• Reflect: Practice self-awareness, empathy, and balance to encourage personal growth

Assessment and Monitoring of Progress

Key indicators of progress towards this goal include:

• CAASPP data, AP scores, and school grades: Look for greater consistency between students’ class grades and the scores they earn on external standardized tests.

• Teachers’ professional growth goals and PLC conversations: Look for data-driven conversations that focus on the essential learnings of a course, how to assess progress, and how to align grading practices.

• Grading and Assessment Task Force: Look for staff conversations that focus on assessing and reporting student learning in ways that are meaningful and growth-oriented.

• Stakeholder feedback: Look for responses that suggest that students and parents have a clearer understanding of their progress and feel empowered to improve (have a growth mindset).

I. SCHOOLWIDE ACTION PLAN (continued)

Timeline of Action Plan

Action Item

Maintain Grading and Assessment Task Force to hold ongoing interdisciplinary conversations about grading and assessment practices.

Host focus group discussions regarding the purpose and meaning of grades; expanded book study around Grading for Equity?

Host and record mastery grading webinar for middle school parents.

Provide professional development to conservatory directors around grading practices.

Provide professional development to all academic/elective staff around mastery learning and mastery grading.

Host and record parent/community education sessions through PSO to inform parents about mastery learning/grading systems.

Implement mastery grading systems schoolwide.

Who is Responsible?

Principal, AP of Instruction, Learning Specialist

Relevant Dates

Fall 2021 and ongoing

Resources Needed

Principal, AP of Instruction, Learning Specialist

Principal, AP of Instruction, Learning Specialist

AP of Arts, AP of Instruction

Principal, AP of Instruction, Learning Specialist

Principal, AP of Instruction

Fall 2022 and ongoing

Fall 2022

Fall 2022

Fall 2023 through spring 2025 PD fees

Spring 2025 and ongoing Technology and communication tools

Administrative team and teachers

Fall 2025 and ongoing Release time for teachers to prep

Growth Area #3: Establish programs and policies to help students build resilience, balance, and a greater sense of emotional safety within the OCSA community.

Rationale

• According to the spring 2022 stakeholder survey, nearly one-third of students are dissatisfied with the support they receive for their social-emotional needs.

• According to the same survey, students struggle with the workload. Approximately half of students say they spend over 2 hours per day outside of class working on academics, and about 20% say they spend over 2 hours per day outside of class working on their art/conservatory work. Considering the long school day and the significant commute that many of our students face, this leaves little time for other non-school endeavors and makes it difficult for our students to achieve balance.

• Also according to the spring 2022 stakeholder survey, nearly one-fifth of students feel that OCSA is not preparing them for SLO #6 (Reflect: Practice self-awareness, empathy, and balance to encourage personal growth). This was one of the lowest rated SLOs in regards to effectiveness of practice.

• Focus group B identified a need for proactive SEL programs and services.

• Focus group E identified a need for schoolwide SEL practices and further awareness about bullying and harassment, both for students and for staff. This group also identified a goal to involve students more in conflict mediation and restorative practices.

• Aligned to LCAP goal #3 (Reduce the number of students categorized as habitually truant (10 or more days of absence) by 5%). As students achieve greater balance and feel safe and supported at school, we expect them to attend more consistently.

Related Student Learner Needs and SLOs

Student Learner Needs

• Help students achieve balance, manage stress, and develop emotional resilience.

Schoolwide Learner Outcomes

• Communicate: Listen and share ideas clearly and mindfully among diverse groups

• Collaborate: Work together to deepen understanding, build community, and empower others to do the same

• Create: Embrace the creative practice of innovation, risk-taking, and the evolution of ideas

• Reflect: Practice self-awareness, empathy, and balance to encourage personal growth

Assessment and Monitoring of Progress

Key indicators of progress towards this goal include:

• Challenge Success responses: Look for baseline data on student wellness and safety.

• Stakeholder feedback: Look for responses that suggest that students feel safe and supported on campus.

• Attendance and discipline data: Look for improved attendance rates as students feel more comfortable at school, and reduced rates of disciplinary issues (particularly repeat offenses).

• Teachers’ professional growth goals and PLC conversations: Look for conversations focused on student wellness and best practices to support students’ emotional well-being.

• Counseling and psychologist reports: Look for students utilizing these resources effectively and being able to fade services over time

I.SCHOOLWIDE ACTION PLAN (continued)

Timeline of Action Plan

Action Item

Partner with Care Solace to connect students with mental health providers and resources.

Hire additional psychology and mental health interns; staff a student wellness center to provide both ongoing and on-demand support for students.

Assemble student equivalent of President’s Circle (composed of student council and e-culture board) to provide a platform for student voice in school policies and administrative decisions.

Participate in the Challenge Success program offered through Stanford.

Who is Responsible?

AP of Student Services

AP of Special Services

Relevant Dates

Resources Needed

Spring 2021 and ongoing Care Solace fees

Fall 2022 and ongoing Intern salaries, facilities for wellness center

President, AP of Supervision Fall 2022 and ongoing

AP of Student Services, AP of Instruction

Offer staff training in restorative circles. AP of Supervision

Complete certification as an ADL “No Place for Hate” school.

AP of Supervision

2022-2023 - Data and Discovery

2023-2024Implementation

2022-2023?

Spring 2023

Challenge Success fees

Growth Area #4: Expand professional growth opportunities for teachers, students, and staff across academics and conservatory.

Rationale

• In the spring 2022 stakeholder survey, teachers expressed a need for more collaboration time, particularly interdisciplinary collaboration. While over 85% of teachers reported that they regularly collaborate with teachers in their department, only about a quarter regularly collaborate with colleagues outside their department. 58% of teachers believe that there is not adequate time designated for collaboration within the work week.

• Focus group A identified a need for ongoing professional development.

• Focus group B identified a need for further training in CLRT and EL support strategies; focus group E echoed the need for ongoing CLRT support.

• Focus groups B, D, and E all identified a need for greater alignment and collaboration among staff both within and across departments.

• Aligned to LCAP goal #4 (Continue to develop, refine, and improve CTE pathways within the OCSA conservatory curriculum).

Related Student Learner Needs and SLOs

Student Learner Needs

• Improve achievement of subgroups including students with disabilities, English learners, and BIPOC students.

• Improve math proficiency across groups and grade levels.

• Help students achieve balance, manage stress, and develop emotional resilience.

Schoolwide Learner Outcomes

• Wonder: Exercise curiosity and a sense of play to imagine, question, and challenge

• Communicate: Listen and share ideas clearly and mindfully among diverse groups

• Collaborate: Work together to deepen understanding, build community, and empower others to do the same

• Problem-Solve: Employ various methods of reasoning, perspectives, and sources of knowledge to explore solutions

• Create: Embrace the creative practice of innovation, risk-taking, and the evolution of ideas

• Reflect: Practice self-awareness, empathy, and balance to encourage personal growth

Assessment and Monitoring of Progress

Key indicators of progress towards this goal include:

• Stakeholder feedback: Look for responses that suggest that teachers feel professionally challenged and supported, and that suggest instruction is more effective. Also look for responses that suggest that students feel inspired and supported in pursuing a post-secondary pathway that is meaningful to them.

• Teachers’ professional growth goals, observation data, and PLC conversations: Look for innovative practices that align to the professional development provided to teachers.

• Professional mentorship program, college fair, and career fair: Look for increased participation in these opportunities for students.

I.SCHOOLWIDE ACTION PLAN (continued)

Timeline of Action Plan

Action Item

Provide support for CTE credentialing through OCDE for all conservatory and elective teachers.

Provide focused professional development to conservatory directors so that they can serve as instructional leaders for their departments.

Design, implement, and refine a more robust system for teacher observation and evaluation.

Implement professional growth groups and other flexible collaboration opportunities so that teachers can regularly engage in crossdisciplinary conversations around instruction.

Work with PSO to expand professional development opportunities for teachers.

Offer a career fair in the spring as a corollary to the college fair offered in the fall.

Establish a more robust onboarding process for new staff to learn OCSA practices and standards for operations, instruction, and student support.

Maintain a professional mentorship program for OCSA 11th grade students.

Who is Responsible?

AP of Arts

AP of Arts, AP of Instruction

Principal, AP of Instruction

Relevant Dates

Started fall 2021; all conservatory and elective staff to be credentialed by fall 2025

Fall 2022 and ongoing

Resources Needed

CTE credentialing fees

Principal, AP of Instruction, Learning Specialist

Pilot during 20222023 school year; full implementation starting in fall 2023 and ongoing

Fall 2022 and ongoing

AP of Student Services, AP of Instruction 2022-2023 and ongoing

AP of Student Services

Administrative team

Spring 2023 and ongoing

Spring 2023 and ongoing

AP of Student Services

Ongoing

II.SPECIFIC STRATEGIES

Growth Area #1: Promote inclusive, equitable learning opportunities by “teaching to the edges” and supporting universal access to the curriculum in all courses.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): For the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years, professional development for academic/elective teachers will focus on principles of UDL. UDL is not a specific strategy, but a lens for identifying and removing barriers to student learning. UDL consists of three main research-based principles:

• Offer multiple means of engagement (the “why” of learning)

• Offer multiple means of representation (the “what” of learning)

• Offer multiple means of action and expression (the “how” of learning)

• Academic and elective teachers are engaged in action research around UDL as their professional growth goal for the 2022-2023 school year; each teacher has committed to trying a different strategy to expand access and gathering data on the effect of this strategy on a few chosen focus students.

Culturally and Linguistically Relevant Teaching (CLRT): CLRT was the primary focus of OCSA’s professional development from 2020-2022, for both academic/elective and conservatory staff. Through our book study of Matthew Kay’s Not Light But Fire and presentations from Dr. Rebecca Harrison at OCDE, our teachers have expanded their skills at facilitating discourse, incorporating diverse perspectives, and intentionally inviting families and communities into partnership with the classroom. CLRT is not a specific strategy, but a larger framework that is implemented differently in various subject areas:

• Our lit/comp, social studies, world language, and many art conservatory teams have been diversifying the curriculum - incorporating texts from diverse authors, techniques and stories from different cultures, etc.

• Our math and science courses have made some curricular changes, but have also focused on identity building and ensuring that all students have role models and can see themselves as mathematicians and scientists.

Growth Area #2: Develop a schoolwide vision and aligned practices around the purpose/ meaning of assessment and grades in order to support feedback and learning.

Mastery learning and grading: During the 2021-2022 school year, curriculum leads engaged in a book study on Joe Feldman’s Grading for Equity, which identifies five key principles for equitable grading practices:

• Practices should be mathematically accurate (honestly represent a student’s abilities).

• Practices should value knowledge, not environment or behavior.

• Practices should support hope and a growth mindset.

• Practices should “lift the veil” (be transparent and comprehensible for students and families).

• Practices should build “soft skills” without including them in the grade. This text largely forms the foundation for OCSA’s transition toward mastery learning and grading. For the 20232024 school year, teachers will build upon their UDL training to identify specific strategies that support mastery learning. The following year, teachers will work on identifying strategies and practices that align with mastery-based grading. While many teachers utilize mastery grading principles in varying degrees and with varying practices, OCSA aims for full mastery grading implementation starting in the 2025-2026 school year.

Growth Area #3: Establish programs and policies to help students build resilience, balance, and a greater sense of emotional safety within the OCSA community.

Restorative practices: OCSA first engaged in conversation around restorative practices during the 2020-2021 school year, as part of the work of our Antiracism and Inclusion Coalition. These practices are now implemented in tandem with Positive Behavior Intervention & Supports (PBIS), social-emotional learning practices, peer mediation programs, and more traditional accountability systems.

Challenge Success: Challenge Success is a non-profit affiliated with the Stanford University Graduate School of Education which provides schools and families with proven strategies that promote well-being and engagement with learning in order to transform the student experience into one where all kids can create their own paths to success. OCSA’s Challenge Success leadership team consists of a variety of stakeholders - students, teachers, parents, support staff, and admin - who began the Challenge Success conversation in the spring of 2022. In the fall of 2022, surveys were administered to students, families, and staff to assess OCSA’s practices and how we could better support student wellness. Results of these surveys will be shared with staff in January 2023; from there, the school will collaboratively identify strategies and programs to implement in service to students’ wellbeing.

Care Solace: Care Solace is a service that partners with schools to provide mental health services to students and staff. If a student needs expanded mental health or substance use treatment, our school counselors and other on-campus support staff can refer them to Care Solace. Care Solace will then work with the student, their family, and their insurance to promptly find a support provider that meets their needs. While Care Solace is not an on-campus service, they partner with OCSA to provide a seamless transition and continuation of support both at school and outside.

Growth Area #4: Expand professional growth opportunities for teachers, students, and staff across academics and conservatory.

Career Technical Education (CTE): Elective and conservatory teachers will primarily focus on CTE credentialing in pursuit of this goal. We will continue to collaborate with OCDE to ensure that all arts teachers have a preliminary credential by the fall of 2025. Conservatory leadership in particular will also play a crucial role in launching our spring career fair to ensure that artistic vocations are well represented at this event.

III.FOLLOW-UP PROCESS

Biweekly leadership meetings: Every other Monday, a meeting is held with school administration, counselors, and special services to discuss student issues and school policies. A main focus of this meeting is supporting students with attendance, behavior, or mental health needs. These conversations will allow us to continually monitor progress with regards to growth area #4 and continue to improve our practices to support students’ wellbeing.

Monthly committee meetings: Our Culture Committee, Operations Committee, and Grading & Assessment Task Force each meet on a monthly basis. The Culture and Operations Committees will provide us ongoing feedback and dialogue surrounding our progress toward student well-being (growth area #3) and professional growth and collaboration (growth area #4). Conversations at the Grading & Assessment Task Force will allow us to monitor teacher growth in equitable access (growth area #1) and mastery learning and grading (growth area #2).

Curriculum team meetings: Our academic and elective curriculum teams currently meet every six weeks; curriculum leads direct the meeting, while administrators listen in and take notes. These conversations will allow us to gather teacher input and monitor progress along all four growth areas. As issues come up, administration will be able to work both with the curriculum leads and the committees to refine strategies and practices.

Grade reviews: Every six weeks, progress reports are shared with families and with the school community. Our counselors and conservatory directors take the lead in discussing these progress reports with struggling students and making plans for improvement. These frequent grade reviews and conversations will allow us to continually monitor student learning and grading practices (growth areas #1 and #2), as well as keep tabs on student wellness and get student input as well (growth area #3).

Professional growth goals: Each fall, teachers submit their professional growth goals to the administrative team, who then provide feedback and resources. Reviewing these goals will allow us to monitor teachers’ professional growth, particularly in terms of access to content and assessment practices (growth areas #1 and #2). These goals will also provide insight into what teachers are struggling with and what support or collaboration they need, allowing administration to provide timely and appropriate professional development opportunities (growth area #4).

CAASPP data review: When OCSA’s CAASPP scores come out, the AP of Instruction carefully reviews the disaggregated data to monitor student growth and equity of access. These data are then shared with the academic staff, during either a staff meeting or curriculum team meetings, for further analysis, insights, and goal-setting. Reviewing these data will allow us to monitor students’ access to learning (growth area #1) and the correlation between student grades and standardized test scores (growth area #2).

Stakeholder surveys: Each spring, OCSA administers an online stakeholder survey to students, teachers, parents, and support staff. These surveys focus on culture, instruction, or both. Data from these surveys are carefully reviewed by school leadership to better understand stakeholder perceptions, growth over time in all four growth areas, and opportunities for improvement.

OCSA 101: Each fall, before the school year begins, all staff (academic, elective, and conservatory) are invited back to campus for OCSA 101. This event allows the whole school to (1) align in terms of the year’s professional growth focus and (2) discuss and collaborate across departments. This kickoff will allow us to continually refine our action plan based on data and keep the entire school community unified in our focus and commitment to student learning.

B. Student Survey Results

The results of the student survey administered in spring 2022 can be found here.

C. Parent Survey Results

The results of the parent survey administered in spring 2022 can be found here

D. CA Healthy Kids Survey

The most recent CA Healthy Kids Survey results (2020) can be found here.

E. Master Schedule

Conservatory Master Schedule Fall 2022

AuthorStudy

D103 8

Yee, Nicholaus Kim, Dennis Tardif, Chloe

Sustaita, Jacob Bornemann, Evan Sustaita, Jacob

Violin M C Sym Orch Alex Tech Sym Orch 9 Sustaita, Jacob Triggs, Philip

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly Chang, Sebastian Sym Orch Chmb Orch S Chmbr Mu II

D105 8 Hembreiker, Linda-Rose

harp Harp M C

practice 9 Hembreiker, Linda-Rose

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly Chang, Sebastian

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly Chang, Sebastian

Harp MC/Pra Chmbr Mu II Chmbr Mu II

D106 8 Reithmeier, Ryan

practice Sr Seminar 9 Wills, Alyssa Shin, HyeJung

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly Chang, Sebastian

Art Song Lit Chmbr Mu II

D107 8 Reithmeier, Ryan

piano Sr Seminar

practice 9

Wills, Alyssa Shin, HyeJung Wills, Alyssa

Art Song Lit

D114 8 Pena, Madeline Cole, Stuart

Melendez, Sonia Ibarra, Mercedes marley Technique I ClBallet I Flamenco I

D115 8 Melendez, Sonia Muniz, Lilia Shim, Cameron Muniz, Lilia keyboar

ClBallet II Repertor IIB Choreo Comp Repertor IIIB

marley 9 Melendez, Sonia Muniz, Lilia Shim, Cameron Muniz, Lilia ClBallet III Repetor IIIB Contemporary Repertor IIB

D116 8 White, Amanda Pena-Marin, Marlene Ibarra, Mercedes Pena-Marin, Marlene marley Modern II

Reperto IIIA Flamenco II Repertor IIA

9 White, Amanda Pena, Madeline Watkins, Mikal

D117 8 Cyr, Erik Suakjian, Briana Kanchukova, Yevgeniya Cole, Stuart piano

marley 9 Adv Latin Adv Smooth Latin Tec III Standard BR

D118 8 Chavarria, Aaron Melendez, Sonia Hall, Marlene Chavarria, Aaron piano Tap VI Ballet III Dance Scien Tap II

wood 9 Chavarria, Aaron Watkins, Mikal Chavarria, Aaron Skoglund, Cristen Tap VII H

D119 8 Chaney, Kyla Walker, Kyle Borowski, Elizabeth Chaney, Kyla piano Hip Hop IV Ballet I

Hip Hop II

marley 9 Guise, Megan Borowski, Elizabeth Tertova, Daria

D120 8 Kanchukova, Yevgeniya Ujamras, Chalatorn Borowski, Elizabeth Hendricks, Colleen

II

marley 9 Latin TechII

Hyde, Steven Muniz, Lilia Hyde, Steven Men's TecII Character Men's TecII Men's TecIII

D121 8 Lee, Chien-Chien Hallas, Fredric Chang, Sebastian Tardif, Chloe sink Bass MC En Intr Recrdng ClassComp Apprec. 7/8

Yee, Nicholaus Tardif, Chloe

9 Bounds, Sabrina

Reithmeier, Heather Neff, Jiyeon

Smolen, Ben

Woodward, Leif Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly Chang, Sebastian

II

practice 9

D203 8

piano

practice 9

D204 8

Wills, Alyssa Shin, HyeJung

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly

Chang, Sebastian

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly

Chang, Sebastian

Art Song Lit Chmbr Mu II Chmbr Mu II

Reithmeier, Heather Iwaki, Lisa

Myers, Kyle Hallberg, John

Class Voice Guided Prac

Wills, Alyssa Shin, HyeJung

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly

Chang, Sebastian

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly

Chang, Sebastian

Art Song Lit Chmbr Mu II Chmbr Mu II

Myers, Kyle Hallberg, John Myers, Kyle Hallberg, John

piano Guided Prac Guided Prac

practice 9

D205 8

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly

Chang, Sebastian

Chmbr Mu II

Myers, Kyle Hallberg, John

Myers, Kyle Hallberg, John

piano Guided Prac Guided Prac

practice 9

Reithmeier, Heather Neff, Jiyeon

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly

Chang, Sebastian

Collaboration Chmbr Mu II

Rymar, Julian

D206 8

Directed P

Myers, Kyle Hallberg, John

piano Guided Prac Guided Prac

Myers, Kyle Hallberg, John

practice 9

Reithmeier, Heather Neff, Jiyeon

Collaboration

Reithmeier, Heather Neff, Jiyeon

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly

Yee, Nicholaus

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Rymar, Julian

Rymar, Julian

Collaboration Chmbr Mu II Directed P

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Rymar, Julian

Directed P Chmbr Mu II Directed P

Tardif, Chloe

Woodward, Leif

Wang, Yao

Neff, Kelly

Directed P Chmbr

Mu II

D210 8 Myers, Kyle Hallberg, John Myers, Kyle Hallberg, John practice Guided Prac

9

Rymar, Julian

Yee, Nicholaus Tardif, Chloe Woodward, Leif Wang, Yao Neff, Kelly Chang, Sebastian

Rymar, Julian

Directed P Chmbr Mu II Directed P

D213 8 Lopez, Nathan Borowski, Elizabeth Guise, Megan Fukuda, Yuka

piano Jazz VII CP Ballet Contemp VI CP Modern

marley 9 Chaney, Kyla Tertova, Daria Berger DeFrancesco, Nicole Amicon, Paige

Tertova, Daria Berger DeFrancesco, Nicole Amicon, Paige Fukuda, Yuka

Hip Hop V Perf Company Perf Company Mod Dan III

D214 8 Piattoni, Jacob Martinez, Luis Hendricks, Colleen Guise, Megan

marley Jazz II Ballet IV Contemp I Contemp III 9 Lopez, Nathan Ujamras, Chalatorn Guise, Megan Borowski, Elizabeth Jazz III Song/Dance DanceCamera Mod Dan V

D215 8 Huang, Jia Tertova, Daria Kinzler, Dylan Tertova, Daria

piano Jazz I Ballet V Comtemp II Contemp IV

marley 9 Huang, Jia Martinez, Luis Berger DeFrancesco, Nicole Chaney, Kyla

Jazz V Improv Move CP SolosApp MakeMuscVid

D216 8 Takahashi, Rukako Anderson, Arletta Muniz, Lilia Lawes, Emma

piano Ballet III ModernIII M Condition Modern III

marley 9 Takahashi, Rukako Anderson, Arletta Hyde, Steven Lawes, Emma

D217 8 Amicon, Paige Oberg, Rachel Chang, Yeonjung Takahashi, Rukako

d

wood 9 Amicon, Paige Oberg, Rachel Chang, Yeonjung Takahashi, Rukako

D218 8 Ujamras, Chalatorn Amicon, Paige Tertova, Daria Borowski, Elizabeth marley Jazz VI CP Ballet ContempVII CP Modern 9 Ujamras, Chalatorn Borowski, Elizabeth Hendricks, Colleen Jazz IV Cre Exp C/D

D219 8 Oberg, Rachel Lauridsen, Almaliis Lawes, Emma Chang, Yeonjung

d Ballet I

marley 9 Oberg, Rachel Lauridsen, Almaliis Lawes, Emma Chang, Yeonjung

D220 8 Tardif, Candice Tardif, Chloe Lee, Victoria Norman, Robert sink M History Lit&History Theory I Career Expl

9 Cherry, Lisa Cherry, Lisa Horn MC Horn MC

D221 8

Yee, Nicholaus Kim, Dennis Tardif, Chloe Dancer, Crystal Tardif, Chloe Dancer, Crystal

sink Violin M C Bus of Biz Theory, I Bus of Biz

9 Tardif, Chloe Hallberg, John Low-Atwater, Elizabeth Hallberg, John Lit&History Sax M C SaxEnsemble D Reed MC Sax M C SaxEnsemble

D222 8 Triggs, Philip Chang, Sebastian Ro, Hyun Jung (Jamie)

sink Viola M C Music A Theory II

9 Rymar, Julian Rymar, Julian Clarinet MC Clarinet MC

D223 8 Boyer, Adin Boyer, Adin

sink

Music T IV Music Theo V TA Office

9 Low-Atwater, Elizabeth Amerson, Donald Cortez, Vanessa

Music T IV Music Theo V TA Office

Yee, Nicholaus Tardif, Chloe Woodward, Leif Wang, Yao Neff, Kelly Chang, Sebastian

Amerson, Donald Cortez, Vanessa

D Reed MC Hist BIPOC Chmbr Mu II Hist BIPOC

HOME 8 Baltaian, Sarkis Hm Practice

Yee, Nicholaus H.Practice

9 Baltaian, Sarkis

Yee, Nicholaus

IMMRC 8 Gomez, Renso Gomez, Renso Gomez, Renso Gomez, Renso

T305

carpet 9

T306 8 Bradecich, Mike Combs, Melinda

T307 8 Goodenberger, Elena Olah, Ian Goodenberger, Elena Beckner, Andrew

carpet 9 Book Club Genre Study

Core S Story

T400 8 Cortez, Vanessa Bagheri, Rod Cortez, Vanessa Bagheri, Rod piano Workshop TheatreLab Workshop TheatreLab

carpet 9 Tice, Kaitlyn Tice, Kaitlyn Tice, Kaitlyn Tice, Kaitlyn ArtAdvOutrch Shakespeare ArtAdvOutrch Shakespeare

T401 8 Eggington, Vanda Eggington, Vanda Eggington, Vanda Eggington, Vanda piano Voice I IntrMusTheor Voice I

carpet 9 Eggington, Vanda Eggington, Vanda Eggington, Vanda Eggington, Vanda

T403 8 Garcia, Abel Rapier, Trisha Garcia, Abel Rapier, Trisha piano, carpet 9 Acting II

T404 8 McGuire, Sarah Velez, Gina Jackson, Lauren McGuire, Sarah Velez, Gina piano Act Tech I Act/Fundmtal T A Act Tech I Act/Fundmtal carpet 9 McGuire, Sarah Velez, Gina McGuire, Sarah Velez, Gina Act Tech I

T405 8 Ardnt, Elise Habelow, Shanon Miller, Ryan Ardnt, Elise Habelow, Shanon Miller, Ryan piano Smith, Christopher Drama Comp Smith, Christopher Drama Comp carpet 9 Sr Capstone

T406 8 Smith, Brenda Kinsey, Richard Smith, Brenda Habelow, Shanon piano Plays/Writes

carpet 9 Reeder, William Kinsey, Richard Reeder, William Adv MT Men's Chorus

T407 8 Barron, Amelia Barron, Amelia Barron, Amelia Barron, Amelia piano P&D Overview TheatreOverv P&D Overview TheatreOverv

carpet 9 Ardnt, Elise Habelow, Shanon Smith, Christopher Barron, Amelia Smith, Christopher

Sr Capstone ContVocalSt

Ardnt, Elise Habelow, Shanon Smith, Christopher Barron, Amelia Smith, Christopher

T500 8 Rapier, Trisha Smith, Christopher Rapier, Trisha Smith, Christopher piano Voice III Music Theory Voice III Music Theory

carpet 9 Rapier, Trisha Bagheri, Rod Rapier, Trisha Bagheri, Rod

Conservatory Master Schedule Spring 2023

F. Approved AP Course List

G. UC a-g Approved Course List 2022-2023

Course Discipline

A: History / Social Science

! AP Government and Politics United States Civics / American Government

! AP United States History

U S History

! AP World History World History / Cultures / Historical Geography

Government Civics / American Government

U S History

U S History

World History / Cultures / Geography World History / Cultures / Historical Geography

B: English

19th Century Unlit

!

!

!

!

C: Mathematics

! AP Calculus AB

! AP Calculus BC

! AP Statistics Statistics

Financial Algebra

Other Advanced Mathematics

Integrated Math I Mathematics I

Integrated Math II

Integrated Math III

Mathematics II

Mathematics III

! Integrated Math III Enhanced

! Pre-Calculus (H)

Mathematics III

Other Advanced Mathematics

Statistics Statistics

D: Science

! AP Biology Biology / Life Sciences

! AP Chemistry

! AP Computer Science Principles

! AP Environmental Science

Chemistry

Computer Science

Interdisciplinary Sciences

! AP Physics 1 Physics

! AP Physics 2 Physics

Biology

Biology / Life Sciences

Biology of the Living Earth Biology / Life Sciences

Chemistry

Environmental Science

Food & Nutrition Science

! Honors Chemistry

Introduction to Computer Science in JavaScript

Chemistry

Interdisciplinary Sciences

Chemistry

Chemistry

Computer Science

Physics Physics

The Anatomy of the Human and the Parasites that Love Them Biology / Life Sciences

Zoology

E: Language Other Than English

! AP Chinese Language and Culture

! AP French Language and Culture

! AP Spanish Language and Culture

Chinese - Mandarin I

Biology / Life Sciences

LOTE Level 4+

LOTE Level 4+

LOTE Level 4+

LOTE Level 1

Chinese - Mandarin II LOTE Level 2

Chinese - Mandarin III LOTE Level 3

Chinese - Mandarin IV LOTE Level 4+

! Chinese - Mandarin IV Honors

French I

French II

French III

! French III Honors

French IV

LOTE Level 4+

LOTE Level 1

LOTE Level 2

LOTE Level 3

LOTE Level 3

LOTE Level 4+

Spanish for Native Speakers 1

Spanish for Native Speakers 2

Spanish I

Spanish II

Spanish III

Spanish IV

! Spanish IV Honors

Spanish V - Hispanic Literature and Culture

F: Visual and Performing Arts

Academic Elective Ballet Technique I

Academic Elective Ballet Technique II

Academic Elective Ballet Technique III

ACT Theatre History I

Acting Technique I

Acting Technique II

Acting Technique III

Acting Technique IV

Advanced Costume Design

Advanced Latin Ballroom

LOTE Level 3

LOTE Level 2

LOTE Level 1

LOTE Level 2

LOTE Level 3

LOTE Level 4+

LOTE Level 4+

LOTE Level 4+

Dance

Dance

Dance

Theater

Theater

Theater

Theater

Theater

Theater

Dance

Advanced Lighting Theater

Advanced Makeup

American Smooth / International Ballroom

Animation I

Animation II

! AP 2D Art and Design

! AP 3D Art and Design

! AP Art History

! AP Drawing

! AP Music Theory

Art History

Ballroom Dance I

Ballroom Dance II

Ballroom Dance III

Ballroom Latin Fundamentals

Theater

Dance

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Music

Visual Arts

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

CCD Ballet Dance II

CCD Ballet Dance III

CCD Pointe II

CMD Ballet Technique III

CMD Ballet Technique IV

CMD Ballet Technique V

CMD Ballet Technique VI

CMD Ballet Technique VII

CMD Choreography

CMD Dance Conditioning III

CMD Jazz Dance III

CMD Jazz Dance IV

CMD Jazz Dance V

CMD Jazz Dance VI

CMD Modern Dance Technique III

CMD Modern Dance Technique IV

CMD Modern Dance Technique V

CMD Modern Dance Technique VI

CMD Modern Dance Technique VII

CMD Movement Education

CMD Tap Dance III

CMD Tap Dance IV

CMD Tap Dance V

CMD Tap Dance VI

! CMD Tap Dance VII Honors

Costume Design

Costume Fundamentals

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Dance

Theater

Theater

CV Acting Theater

CV Art, Song, Literature

CV Men’s Chorus

CV Opera Scenes

CV Song Composition

Digital Painting 1

DM Drawing I

Music

Music

Music

Music

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

DM Drawing II

Drawing for Design A

Drawing I

Drawing II

Fashion & Costume Design

Visual Arts

Theater

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Film Criticism Visual Arts

FTV Directing I Theater

FTV Production I Theater

Graphic Design Visual Arts

Hip Hop Dance 1 Dance

Hip Hop Dance 2 Dance

IA 3D Art Design Visual Arts

ID Folklorico Repertory Dance

IM Symphony Orchestra Music

IM Wind Ensemble Music

IM Winds Brass Ensemble Music

IM Winds Flute Masterclass Music

IM Winds Saxophone Ensemble Music

IM Winds Woodwind Quintet Music

IMC Conducting Music

IMC Core Music Composition Music

IMC Core Music History I Music

IM Commercial Music Theory I Music

IMJ Ambassador Jazz Orchestra Music

IM Jazz Cabaret Lounge Combo Music

IM Jazz Studio Jazz Combos Music

IMP Piano Masterclass Music

Improvisation Theater

IMS Strings Symphony Orchestra Music

IM Strings Chamber Music Music

IM Winds Percussion Ensemble Music

Intermediate Costuming Theater

Intermediate Lighting Theater

Intermediate Makeup Theater

Introduction to Props

Latin Ballroom

Lighting Fundamentals

Makeup Fundamentals

MT Elements of Music Theory

MT Musical Theatre History

Music Theory I

Music Theory II

Music Theory III

Musical Theatre Dance

Musical Theatre Dance II

Painting I

Theater

Dance

Theater

Theater

Music

Music

Music

Music

Music

Dance

Dance

Visual Arts

Pattern Drafting Theater

Photography I

Photography II

Piano I

Playreading & Analysis

Solo Vocal Techniques I

Solo Vocal Techniques II

Solo Vocal Techniques III

Solo Vocal Techniques IV

Standard Ballroom

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Music

Theater

Music

Music

Music

Music

Dance

Theatre for Social Justice Theater

VA Advanced Oil Painting

VA Beginning Figure Drawing

VA Beginning Printmaking

VA Jewelry I

VA Jewelry II

VA Landscape Painting

VA Mixed Media Collage

VA Mural Painting

VA Advanced Ceramics

VA Ceramics I

Vocal Ensemble

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Music

Voice I

Voice II

Watercolor

Yearbook

G: College-Preparatory Elective

! AP Macroeconomics

! AP Psychology

! AP Research

CA Food History

Comparative Government

CW Core Short Story

CW Inkblot

Economics

Emergency Medical Technician

Ethnic Studies

Global Studies

Journalism

Philosophy

Screenwriting

Senior Project

Theater

Theater

Visual Arts

Visual Arts

History / Social Science

History / Social Science

Interdisciplinary

Interdisciplinary

History / Social Science

English

English

History / Social Science

Interdisciplinary

History / Social Science

History / Social Science

English

History / Social Science

English

English

H. Additional Details of School Programs

Textbook List

I. California School Dashboard Performance Indicators 2019

Academic Performance

Conditions and Climate

K. Graduation Requirements

All students attending the Orange County School of the Arts must accumulate a minimum of 240 credits in grades nine through twelve to graduate from high school Students must pass all required courses to receive a diploma and to participate in graduation ceremonies The 240 credits necessary for graduation must include:

1. Literature and Composition

2 Social Science

10 credits World History

10 credits United States History

5 credits Government

5 credits Economics

3 Mathematics (must be through Integrated II)

4. Physical Education (dance, body conditioning, or other P.E. components)

*If you are in a dance conservatory, you are not required to take a P E class during the academic day

5 Science (see curriculum handbook for course options)

10 credits Biological Science

10 credits Physical Science

6. World Language (10 credits may be from 7th & 8th grade World Language courses)

7. Fine Arts (Art, Drama, Music)

*Please note that not all conservatory classes earn UC approved Fine Art credit.

8 Health

9. Global Studies

*Required for incoming 9th graders only

10 Student Elective Classes

TOTAL

Senior year courses of study must be completed at OCSA and seniors must be enrolled in at

blocks Students must attend a minimum of three academic blocks a day on campus (7th-11th) Conservatory classes are in addition to these three blocks

L. Additional Data

Academic Profile 2022-2023

OCSA’s 2022-2023 academic profile can be accessed here

Emergency Procedures

Strategic Plan

OCSA’s Visions 2025 Strategic Plan Executive summary can be accessed here.

M. Budgetary Information

N. Glossary of Terms

Locations

The Black Box: Located at the end of the first floor main hallway in the Tower, the Black Box is a performance and training venue for the Production and Design, Musical Theatre, and Acting Conservatories. Classes, rehearsals, and performances take place here.

Business Office: This office houses the offices of Mr. Shaffer, Mr. Wagner, Human Resources, and all things related to the running of the school It is located at 1107 N Main St Santa Ana, 92701 (look for the OCSA flag)

DMS (Dance, Music, and Science) Center: This building opened for use in 2015 and was constructed specifically to house music and practice rooms, dance studios, and science laboratories It also features a plaza for outdoor events and performances. It is located at 906 N. Main St. Santa Ana, 92701.

The Event Center: Located in the Webb Theatre on the 2nd floor, this space houses large meetings and events

Foundation Office: This office houses offices for our development team. It is located at 123 E. 11th St. Santa Ana, 92701

IMMRC: Computer lab located in the tech building

OCEAA: The Orange County Educational Arts Academy is located across Broadway from OCSA. OCEAA tutors travel there on occasion to work with students

VAC (Visual Arts Center) : This building houses visual arts classrooms, computer labs for digital media, and special education classrooms It is located at 902 N Main St Santa Ana, 92701

The Webb: The main auditorium where performances and large gatherings take place. It is located at 801 N. Main St. Santa Ana, 92701

Programs

Art Attack : Daily morning broadcast which is live streamed on the OCSA website at the start of block 2 or 5. See separate Art Attack directions and policies for more information

Early Lunch Dismissal: Each day Monday-Thursday, either 7/8, 9/10, or 11/12th graders are dismissed five minutes early to lunch to allow for less traffic, specifically on the Tower stairs

Encore: Encore is a membership group for current and alumni families to meet, socialize, and receive exclusive benefits designed to deliver the ultimate OCSA experience, including private receptions, premier ticketing to performances, invitations to exclusive cooking classes, and more. Proceeds raised from Encore memberships go directly toward the funding of schoolwide initiatives.

Leadership: Leadership is OCSA’s form of ASB or student government. It is advised by academic teachers Chris Dion and Whitney Coates Leadership takes place during Block 2 and usually consists of about 65 10th-12th graders

Leadership, among other things, is responsible for the following:

● All student-run events from dances to dodgeball tournaments to spirit week.

● Ticket sales for student events

● Recycling program

● Grad Night

● OCSA clubs and Club Rush

● Student leadership (classes and student body)

● Media production on Art Attack

● Various campus community service opportunities

● Student ambassadors at Preview Days, Back-To-School-Nights, etc

● Teacher appreciation

MONTAGE!: MONTAGE! is the Orange County School of the Arts’ premier performing group Comprised of talented student artists in grades 7-12 auditioned from the school’s fifteen arts conservatory programs, this group has been praised for its high-energy, professional level performances MONTAGE! combines the talent of singers, dancers, musicians, actors and other aspiring young artists in unforgettable performances MONTAGE! provides a unique opportunity for our students to build an impressive resume by performing throughout southern California for esteemed organizations.

MSquad: MSquad is a middle school program designed to create a unique middle school culture, encourage responsibility, strengthen personal connections, support academic excellence, and celebrate successes in our 7th and 8th grade community It includes a #MSquad ticket system for rewarding outstanding behavior, special lunch activities, academic events such as the 7th grade Renaissance Faire, and other opportunities for middle school students to get involved and feel connected

OCard: An OCard is a prepaid debit account that allows students to purchase food items from the cafeteria and pay for Homework Club No actual card is distributed - the account is accessed by the four-digit student number and/or by fingerprint.

Peer Assistance Leadership (PAL) : PAL is a class specifically for middle school students that is built upon a philosophy of students helping students. PAL peer leaders focus on new student transition, social and emotional learning, mentoring, bullying prevention, service learning, tutoring, youth-led campaigns, and substance use prevention.

People Supporting OCSA (PSO) : The PSO supports the school in a variety of ways. Their mission is as follows:

● To help provide a time and process for collaboration and sharing between parents, students, teachers and staff

● To help provide resources to the school in order to further enhance students’ academic, artistic, physical and emotional growth.

● To help organize OCSA parents for volunteer efforts and keep them informed

● To help solicit parent input into decision making on school policies.

Events

Gala: The yearly mega-fundraising event and auction that takes place in March/April and helps fund the arts programs Tickets are about $450 - $500.

Season Finale: Season Finale is the last major performance of the year, usually at the end of May, and takes place at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Teachers receive complimentary tickets, and many OCSA families come as well. It is a night to showcase the students, their conservatories, and their amazing work from the year

Season Premiere: Season Premiere is the first major performance of the year, typically held in the beginning of September at the Balboa Bay Resort This annual event debuted in fall 2016 to kick off OCSA’s 30th anniversary year It features dinner and a performance by OCSA students, alumni, and guest artists

Tech Week: When students involved in a show are in the final week of rehearsal, it is called Tech Week Anyone from any conservatory could potentially be involved. It means a week of long nights, often not getting home until very late, and then followed by a performance schedule over the weekend

Tree Lighting: Tree Lighting is a major event on the OCSA calendar. It takes place at South Coast Plaza and is performed by MONTAGE! students and other performers