Guajome Park Academy

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Guajome Park Academy
Adventure for the mind; home for the heart
Established 1994
School type public charter
Grades 6–12
Superintendent Penny Harrison
Location Vista, California, United States
Students 1,238
Colors Teal, black, silver
Mascot Frog
Website http://www.guajome.net/

Guajome Park Academy, commonly referred to as "Guajome" (/gwəˈhomi/) or "GPA", is a middle school and high school in Vista, California. It is a charter school and was founded in 1994. It offers the IB Middle Years Programme for students grades six through ten, and the IB Diploma Programme for eleventh- and twelfth-graders. During the 2004-2005 school year, 1,238 students were enrolled: 530 in the middle school and 708 in the high school.[1]

The school is named after nearby Guajome County Park. The name "Guajome", pronounced gwah-hó-may, comes from the Luiseño Indian word wakhavumi meaning "frog pond". In the Luiseño story of creation, Wahawut was one of the "First People" who took on the appearance of a frog to cast a spell over the god Oiyot; consquently, the school's mascot is a frog.

Contents

[edit] History

Guajome Park Academy was founded in 1994 by a group of teachers and parents, and was headed by "C.E.O." (Chief Educational Officer) Sandra Williamson (later Sandra Williamson-Angle). In its first year, Guajome had no campus of its own, and met at a nearby middle school as well as at Vista High School. The following year, a campus in northern Vista was opened, featuring temporary buildings. In 1997, the school opened a secondary campus in downtown Vista called the Vista Village Learning Plaza, which at various times has housed the high school program and an alternative education program called the Expeditionary Learning Center (ELC). In 2004, after nearly ten years of waiting, a permanent campus opened at the main campus site, with two-story buildings, a gymnasium, and an amphitheater, none of which the school had ever had.[2] Soon after, the Vista Village Learning Plaza was closed and the ELC was relocated to the main campus.

Although Guajome has never been a private school, in its early years prospective students and their parents were required to interview with the dean. As the school's population increased, such interviews became less feasible and were eventually discontinued. In recent years, especially following administrative changes in 2003 (the internet forum Guajome Underground was started mid 2004), there has been increasing controversy surrounding what some critics say is a break from the school's original vision of small classroom sizes and a project-based, integrated curriculum. This, coupled with accusations of improper governing practices, has led to a great deal of friction between members of the newer administration and faculty members who have taught at the school longer. In response to this, a message board called "Guajome Underground" was created, which chronicles the turmoil and was the subject of an article in the North County Times, a regional newspaper.[3]. Since the forming of Guajome Underground it came under a lot of flack from dedicated Guajome teachers and students (due to the treatment of staff and students)[4] and since then has died out.

[edit] Campus

The current campus is located near the northern border of Vista, at the intersection of North Santa Fe and Museum Way. It is within walking distance of the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum, Rancho Guajome Adobe, and Guajome County Park; students often take field trips to these locations, and the high school graduations are held at the adobe. The school itself has three two-story buildings, a one-story building, a gymnasium, an amphitheater, and a ropes course, the latter of which is also rented out to other organizations.

[edit] Student Run Businesses

Guajome Park Academy offers a unique approach to real world learning, one of those provided by the Business and Leadership house is the opportunity to run a business, so far there are three currently in operation.

  • The Wellness Center, basically a fitness and wellness center run by students including personal training programs and workout equipment along with, AED, First Aid, and food handling training.
  • AudioFrog Studio, started and ran by a team of trained students on the ability to record and edit audio.

All of the businesses are either open to the public or on their way to be open for the public.

[edit] Guajome Park Academy Forums

Guajome Park Academy has always been a place for teachers, parents, students, and staff to be able to openly discuss subject matter, school events, pressures, inflences, and anything of the sort. In response to such an open mindset to the community, a former student now staff member opended up the web forum known as the Guajome Park Academy Forums. Started in April of 2005 it was created to provide stakeholders a nice relaxing place to be able to converse about any subject matter they choose.

The website is currently run as a child forum of the Wolfram-Studios.com Community, and is modded by current students of Guajome Park Academy.

[edit] Extracurricular activities

Guajome's sports teams compete in soccer, cross country, track, softball, baseball, basketball, vollyball, wrestling, and golf. The school also participates in the Science Olympiad.

In addition to its competitive teams, the school also has a choir called "Sound Splash", and a drama club that performs plays.

Guajome is a member of the German-American Partnership Program and has been partnered with its sister school, Gymnasium Ulricianum Aurich, in Aurich, Lower Saxony, Germany since 1995.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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