Recruitment cut short at Early College

Early College High School, the newest campus in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, may not admit a new class this year, as administrators are scrambling to find a permanent location for the school.

The school, operated jointly by Newport-Mesa and Coastline Community College, opened in August in portable classrooms on the Back Bay/Monte Vista continuation high school site. The district and college intended to house the first class of students there and move to a long-term facility within two years. So far, however, administrators have not reached a decision about where that location will be.

As a result, the district has halted Early College’s recruitment indefinitely this spring, and Assistant Supt. of Secondary Education Chuck Hinman said it’s possible the school will have no freshman class in the fall.

“Every day that goes by that we don’t recruit a freshman class, it puts Early College at a disadvantage, and we’re aware of that,” Hinman said.

The memorandum of understanding signed by Coastline and Newport-Mesa last June gave the college the task of providing facilities for Early College. Coastline President Ding-Jo Currie said her staff had proposed a number of plans for permanent Early College housing, including keeping freshman classes at the Back Bay/Monte Vista site and moving upper grades to Coastline’s campus in Costa Mesa.

The easiest measure, she said, would be to find existing buildings.

“Even if we find a piece of land somewhere, it’s going to take a few years to erect a building that would fit the program,” she said.

Hinman said he knew of the plan, but wasn’t sure if the Coastline campus could accommodate enough students. He added that even if Newport-Mesa couldn’t recruit a class this year, the district would find a way to serve the students currently at Early College. The school, which includes both high school and college classes, aims to give every student a diploma and an associate in arts degree within five years.

“No matter what option comes to pass, the district will fulfill its commitment for those students, at the end of a fifth year, to have a high school diploma and an AA degree,” Hinman said.

Regardless, word of Early College’s troubles has spread around the Newport-Mesa community. More than 60 parents gathered Thursday night for an “emergency meeting” at the Halecrest Swim and Tennis Club in Costa Mesa, hosted by PTA President Janet Krochman. At the meeting, the recruitment video that Early College students had created for this spring played on the wall.

Krochman asked parents to come to Tuesday’s school board meeting and voice their concerns. She hoped that Newport-Mesa would go ahead with recruitment this spring while giving the community a year to look for possible facilities.

Parent Roberto Turcios, whose daughter attends Early College, called the school an invaluable resource for students who struggled in regular classes.

“Academically, it’s very challenging,” he said. “In the beginning, my daughter was saying, ‘It’s too tough,’ but we’ve kept up with the instructors. We have parent-teacher conferences. She’s doing great right now.”