New School Community Day High School

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Admission

At New School Community Day, we offer students a vital opportunity to recover academic credits that may have been lost at a comprehensive high school. Our flexible program supports various student pathways: some students successfully recover their credits and return to their previous high school, while others choose to complete their graduation requirements directly with us at New School.

Our mission is centered on empowering students to take responsibility for their actions, cultivate self-belief, and learn to set and achieve meaningful goals. We firmly believe in the potential of every student to succeed. By providing a structured, caring, democratic, and student-centered environment, we ensure that each individual can make significant progress toward reaching their full potential.

Community Day Schools:

A Unique Educational Path

Community Day Schools:
A Unique Educational Path

Community Day Schools are unique educational environments run by school districts and county offices of education. They're designed to support students who need a different approach to their learning journey.

Here's a closer look at what Community Day Schools offer:

Serving Diverse Needs: These schools primarily serve students who have been expelled, those referred by a School Attendance Review Board, and other high-risk youth. At New School, a significant number of our students are here for credit recovery.
Focused Instruction: Students receive a minimum of 360 minutes of instruction daily, with academic programs that provide a challenging curriculum tailored to individual learning styles and abilities.
Holistic Development: Beyond academics, Community Day Schools emphasize developing pro-social skills, self-esteem, and resilience.
Personalized Support: We maintain low student-to-teacher ratios to ensure students receive individual attention. Learning support services are readily available, including school counselors, psychologists, academic and vocational counselors, and pupil discipline personnel.
Collaborative Network: Students also benefit from integrated services with county offices of education, law enforcement, probation, and human services agencies, all working together to support at-risk youth.
Our Commitment at New School:

Taking Responsibility: Before admission, students must acknowledge their past mistakes and commit to changing unproductive habits.
Behavioral Growth: Our main goal is to help our youth correct behaviors, enabling them to become more productive at school, at home, at work, and within the community.
Supportive Environment: Our dedicated staff serve as mentors, offering the necessary support for students to achieve academic success in a caring and safe environment.
Daily Operations: We are open every school day from 7:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., enrolling up to 60 students. Our teaching ratio is typically 12-20 students per staff member, ensuring a focused and supportive learning atmosphere.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Incoming students are given a personal interview and transcript review and a personal learning plan is designed at that time. The plan includes academic, behavior, and emotional goals and action steps. Each student has an academic advisor, a therapeutic counselor, and a behavior plan as needed. In addition to an academic program, we offer life skills classes that include drug and alcohol awareness, self-defense, therapy, teen parenting, anger management, and gang intervention/prevention. Students also participate in the local community college career night, college tours, vocational school visits, law enforcement assessments, and trade internship workshops. Students also participate in job related programs, such as the afterschool program as the Environmental Science Workshop, Suenos, and Community Restoration Project.

New School is also a member of the Monterey Bay Alternative Schools Athletic League. Our students compete in beach volleyball, basketball, softball, and soccer.

IS NEW SCHOOL RIGHT FOR YOU?

New School Community Day School is committed to equipping students with the tools they need for academic, personal and social achievement.

New School Community Day School enables every student to reach their highest potential by establishing a curriculum that meets or exceeds government standards for education; providing extracurricular programs that develop children’s’ mental, physical and social skills; and partnering with parents and the community to create an environment geared to the success of all students.

An additional cultural consideration for our students is the proliferation of gang influence that infests our surrounding neighborhoods and, in fact, the entire town of Watsonville. We have an active gang intervention program which teaches awareness, empathy, and compassion, and teaches students effective life skills.

New School is a member of the Monterey Bay Alternative Schools Athletic League (MBASAL), the only organized athletic league for alternative schools in the state of California. We participate in this league year-round: volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter, and soccer and softball in the spring.