REACH Academy’s Mission is to meet the unique educational, social, physical, and emotional needs of our diverse student population in a safe and nurturing environment to encourage students to develop an enthusiasm for lifelong learning and a desire to pursue college and career opportunities. 

REACH Academy’s Vision is a student centered second chance at success.  We do this by having caring staff that build connections and relationships with students, while providing alternative methods of teaching, assessment and learning.  The school offers a rigorous and relevant curriculum, strategies of prevention and intervention for at-risk behavior, and extended learning opportunities, all in a safe and healthy environment. With this approach, in collaboration with our community partners, we are able to meet the unique educational, social, physical and emotional needs of the diverse students we serve.

REACH Academy’s Description:  REACH Academy is a Community Day School operated by the Santa Ana Unified School District.  REACH Academy serves the District’s students who have been expelled, referred by a School Attendance Review Board (SARB), referred by a Pupil Placement Committee (PPC) for behavior, attendance and/or performance issues, referred by Orange County Probation, and/or other youth at high risk.  REACH Academy operates a 360-minute instructional day, which is a student centered approach that supports and embraces the diverse needs of the students by providing an alternative method of teaching, assessment and learning, rigorous and relevant teaching and curriculum, intervention and prevention, extended learning opportunities, safe and healthy environments, and collaborative partners that are all Student Centered.   REACH Academy stands for Responsible Citizens, Effective Communicators, Active Learners, Critical Thinkers, and Healthy Individuals, which is truly what we want the students to become. 

Besides offering the traditional subjects such as English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, Sciences, Foreign Languages, and Physical Education, REACH Academy has created what is called the HEART class, which is an orientation class for all new students.  Its purpose is to relieve the stresses these students and their families are experiencing, as well as to better prepare them for success. HEART stands for Hope, Engage, Achieve, Restore and Transition.  The HEART class was designed for the students to stay on average for 20 days, and each letter of HEART has a module created in Canvas that include lessons about each letter of HEART.  These lessons integrate technology, reading, writing, reflecting, sharing, restorative circles, cross-curriculum teaching, and career exploration.  The HEART class is a collaborative effort with Project Kinship. 

Project Kinship is one of many community partners at REACH Academy.  Project Kinship’s Mission is to increase community safety, promote hope, health and well-being among the formerly incarcerated and their families, and help individuals successfully re-enter the community.   Project Kinship is providing direct individual support with Case Management to students and families with support linked to community resources, one-to-one paraprofessional counseling, individual gang mediation, crisis-based gang intervention on site and de-escalation support, one-on-one substance abuse counseling services and student home visits, and providing group support with restorative practice circles, emotional literacy and anger management groups, after school restorative practice group, youth development activities, gang intervention groups, female intervention groups, and substance abuse groups. 

Other community partners on-site daily are Orange County Probation and Orange County Department of Education – Mental Health, as well as other community partners who help to provide extended learning opportunities.  With all of this, we can meet the unique educational, social, physical, and emotional needs of the diverse students we serve, and provide them with a second chance at success.