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    Drummond: New charter set to use part of Esperanza High campus
    • June 5, 2025

    Yorba Linda’s third charter school is preparing to open Aug. 11 for an inaugural 2025-26 school year.

    The newly approved charter is planning to provide classes for 120 students in transitional kindergarten through second grade.

    The charter students will be housed in seven portable classrooms on the west campus of Esperanza High School in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. Esperanza’s west campus was once the site of Orchard Drive Elementary School, which opened in 1965 and closed in 1986.

    A 24-page agreement involving the Magnolia Science Academy and Magnolia Education & Research Foundation and the Placentia-Yorba Linda district was approved on a 5-0 vote at a May trustee meeting. The pact was based on a state law that requires districts to make facilities available to public charter schools under certain conditions.

    The Magnolia foundation has 10 charters, eight in Los Angeles and one each in Anaheim, Santa Ana and San Diego. The foundation was established in 1997 and focuses on students choosing career paths in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics, often called STEAM classes. Some of the charters include high school students.

    Magnolia foundation officials are looking to locate a private campus within the Placentia- Yorba Linda district’s boundaries, but until a site is found, the charter will be using a part of the Esperanza campus for classes.

    The agreement between the two parties is for a single year, with the potential for a second year, if needed. The Magnolia charter will pay the district $10.95 per square foot, for a total of $82,114 for 7,944 square feet of space on the Aztec west campus.

    The 10 Magnolia charters report an enrollment of 3,892 students, including 365 in Orange County. An open house is planned 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 28 at the Anaheim campus, 412 W. Carl Karcher Way.

    The California Republic Leadership Academy charter that opened in fall 2024 is scheduled to add a fourth-grade level to the school’s current transitional kindergarten through third-grade classes on the campus in east Yorba Linda at 23705 Via del Rio, north of La Palma Avenue. First day of school for students is Aug. 27.

    Both the Magnolia and California Republic charters were approved on unanimous votes by the five elected members of the Orange County Board of Education. The board has granted 23 charters for site-based instruction, four for independent study and one for both site-based and independent study.

    Also opening for the fall semester 2024 was the Orange County School of Computer Science for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students on the Bernardo Yorba Middle School campus at 5350 Fairmont Blvd.

    The computer science charter was approved on a 5-0 vote by the Placentia-Yorba Linda district’s trustees, who maintain authority over the charter’s policies and finances. School opens Aug. 26 for the popular charter’s second year of operation.

    Jim Drummond is a longtime Yorba Linda resident. He gives his opinion on local issues weekly. Send e-mail to jimdrummond@hotmail.com.

    ​ Orange County Register 

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