Orange County Academy of Sciences and Arts

OCASA is a joy-filled, student-centered, collaborative community that inspires growth through a personalized learning experience.

The Orange County Academy of Sciences and Arts (“OCASA”) is an innovative charter school network that offers a wide variety of programs for students in grades TK-12. OCASA provides a unique and creative environment that encourages scientific exploration and artistic expression. The school offers an integrated curriculum that combines traditional core subjects such as math, science, English, and history with specialized courses focusing on robotics, coding, engineering, performing arts and fine arts. Students also have access to an extensive array of extracurricular activities ranging from chess clubs to surf club. OCASA dedicated to nurturing young minds so they can become tomorrow’s leaders in technology, engineering, arts, and sciences.

At OCASA Elementary School, located in Laguna Niguel, we provide education for students from TK to 5th grade. Our curriculum places a strong emphasis on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM), allowing students to apply real-world experiences to enhance their understanding of new concepts and acquire knowledge.

For students in 6th to 12th grade, OCASA College Prep offers classes at our Aliso Viejo campus. Our campuses are dedicated to providing unique and innovative curricula, specifically designed to prepare K-10th grade students for a future focused on STEM.

At OCASA, we prioritize understanding the individual strengths, attributes, and learning needs of each student. This knowledge serves as a guide in crafting personalized learning and development plans that foster their growth. Our Base Curriculum is designed to support this personalized approach, identifying each child's unique goals and the differentiated strategies that will be pursued by the student, their family, and educators to achieve them. Extensive research has shown that students who actively engage in the arts, including those from minority and low-income backgrounds, not only perform better academically but also have higher rates of school retention. At OCASA, we firmly believe that every student possesses the potential to excel both academically and personally, forming the cornerstone of our teaching model.

OCASA has a long history of providing students with innovative and engaging educational opportunities. The school's mission focuses on personalized learning to drive individual student growth alongside its strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. OCASA currently serves 328 students across our two campuses. Approximately 30% of our students are high needs coming from a lower socioeconomic background, classified as English Learners or are Students with Disabilities. Despite working with a diverse population, OCASA students have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement.

The California Department of Education measures improvement in scores from year to year with their Student-Level Growth Model. OCASA students perform exceedingly well, with an Aggregate Growth Score of 114.0 in English Language Arts (“ELA”) and 109.3 in Math - indicative of significant growth. A comparison of OCASA's growth model data against other schools in the state shows OCASA offering superior student growth.

The most recent California School Dashboard, an online tool providing comprehensive data on student performance, also highlights OCASA students' strong academic achievements. OCASA students demonstrated some of the highest achievement and growth scores in California.

OCASA receives $17,196 of funding for each student per year but spends $20,169 per student annually. In order to operate our high-quality program, we need to fundraise approximately $3,000 per student per year. Some of this funding comes from parent donations to cover field trips and our after school program at around $500 per year per student. Additionally, we have a highly engaged PTSA which typically donates another $100 per year per student. This leaves us with a $2,400 shortfall per student each year.

Orange County, California

OCASA’s educational model is uniquely designed to meet the needs of every learner. The cornerstone belief that guides our approach is that all students are capable of thriving academically, socially and emotionally. OCASA’s guiding principles describe the values of the Charter School, its staff and the entire learning community by providing an excellent education to every child. In service of this goal, OCASA meets each child’s social, emotional, physical, and academic needs in preparation for an increasingly complex and globalized world. To achieve these goals, OCASA operates under four guiding principles of teaching and learning: every child is unique; we learn by doing; a commitment to equality and diversity is vital; and a thriving community nurtures thriving students.

OCASA’s model is founded in the belief that each and every student has the potential to excel academically and personally. The unique strengths, attributes and learning needs each student must guide the creation of a learning and development plan that will support their growth at OCASA. The Base Curriculum supports individualized learning, identifying each child’s unique goals and the differentiated strategies the student, their family, and educators will pursue to achieve them.

Additionally, the design of the instructional program at OCASA allows for teachers to serve as facilitators of self-directed learning. Students are able to learn at their own pace and be grouped appropriately based on the instructional topic. The curriculum lends itself to a highly differentiated approach designed to ensure that all learners are engaged, challenged and on a path towards success.

It has been a passion and an honor for me to serve as the Board Chair for OCASA and watch OCASA unfold into the school we feel meets the needs of a thriving community in South Orange County. At OCASA, we are driven by a profound commitment to providing every student we serve with an exceptional educational experience. Our mission centers on creating an individualized learning journey for each student—especially through a highly engaging curriculum that seamlessly integrates STEM and Arts daily.

Having had the privilege of visiting numerous schools across California, I can confidently say that OCASA stands out in its dedication to fostering a truly unique and enriching environment. During my visits, I
witnessed students passionately working towards personalized goals, classrooms abuzz with projects, and learning spaces filled with rich educational materials. It is not just the infusion of STEM and Arts into our curriculum but the genuine commitment to tailoring the learning experience to each student's needs that makes OCASA unique. This occurs as the result of teacher planning, use of effective programs like Summit Learning, unique student grouping, and effective use of instructional aide support for students. OCASA classrooms are hubs of exploration, creativity, and individual growth. OCASA provides the kinds of experiences that help students become the thinkers of the future.