Date: September 28, 2001	Contact: Darren Pudgil
	tel: (619) 531-5894

SAN PASQUAL ACADEMY OPENS TO FIRST STUDENTS

SAN DIEGO - With a ceremony that marks the beginning of a new era of opportunity for San Diego
County’s foster teens, the San Pasqual Academy today announced its grand opening. The Academy
provides a real home, a sound education, and a bright future for up to 250 foster youth between the ages
of 14 and 18.

Officials from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation, San Diego
County Office of Education, New Alternatives, Inc. and supporters from throughout San Diego County gathered for a formal dedication and ribbon-cutting to mark the Academy’s opening today at 11:00 a.m. The event was held at the
San Pasqual Academy campus, located at 17701 San Pasqual Valley Road in Escondido.

San Pasqual Academy is a residential education campus that offers San Diego County foster teens a safe, stable and caring home where they can learn the academic, social and life skills that will allow them to become productive and successful adults.

"The County of San Diego is making foster care history today with the opening of San Pasqual Academy," said Supervisor Ron Roberts, who initiated the effort to build the Academy with Supervisor Greg Cox. "There is no question in my mind that this new approach will give our foster teens a much better chance at success and happiness as they move into adulthood. Several communities throughout the U.S. are already watching to see how the Academy's program can be emulated to successfully address their foster care needs."

“San Diego County has taken a leadership role in creating the San Pasqual Academy to make sure our region’s foster teens have the best opportunities to learn, succeed and achieve,” said Supervisor Greg Cox, who has been a tireless advocate for foster youth throughout his time on the Board of Supervisors. “More often than not foster teens, who find themselves in ‘the system’ through no fault of their own, move in and out of foster homes and between schools ten or more times before the age of 18. With the opening of San Pasqual Academy, foster teens have an extraordinary place where they can live and learn in a stable environment.”

The San Pasqual Academy will be home to young people like Roberta Arredondo, an exceptional young woman who grew up moving between dozens of foster homes and now sits on San Pasqual Academy’s Youth Advisory Panel. “The San Pasqual Academy is a true home for foster youth,” said Arredondo. “I am really happy to have been a part of the planning process and I know that this is the right thing to do for foster teens.”

“San Pasqual Academy is a stable, four-year high-school experience that these foster teens might not otherwise have,” said Bobbie Plough, San Pasqual Academy Principal. “Through state of the art technology and career preparation resources, a college preparatory curriculum and a low student to teacher ratio, the Academy will provide students with real opportunities to excel.”

In addition to the fully accredited high school operated by the San Diego County Office of Education, nonprofit provider New Alternatives, Inc. will direct and operate the Academy’s residential program, including student family homes, house parents, medical care, individualized counseling, independent living skills training, employment and volunteer opportunities.

“Today is a monumental day for foster care and education,” said Renée Comeau, board president of the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation, a nonprofit group that has committed to raise over $5 million for the project. “San Pasqual Academy will provide stable homes and a first-rate education for teenage foster youth, a group that needs this stability and support. Students here will learn, grow, succeed and will have hope for their futures.”

The 238-acre residential education campus, located in the pastoral San Pasqual Valley, will eventually be home to 250 high school age youth. These youth have had multiple placements, have no identified guardian, adoptive parent or kinship caretaker and do not have a stable placement. The campus includes family homes, classrooms, an auditorium, student union, swimming pool, gymnasium, recreational fields and a state of-the-art technology and career preparation center.

The Academy has been developed through the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, San Diego County Office of Education, Child Abuse Prevention Foundation and tremendous support from individual donors and the region’s business community.

Additionally, a dedicated youth advisory panel comprised of 12 current and former foster teenagers provided critical input and influence throughout the development of San Pasqual Academy. Their experiences and perspective helped to ensure that the Academy would truly meet the unique needs of foster teens.