“Life is about where you want to go and what you do to get there.”
That quote from a former student now graces a main hallway at the College and Career Preparatory Academy, highlighting the unique school’s mission to uplift and empower young adults in Orange County — specifically those who have yet to graduate from high school.
On Wednesday, Aug. 28, CCPA hosted an open house to showcase its new facilities at OCDE’s Harbor Learning Center South in Fountain Valley. The event, which began at noon, included a meet and greet with staff, resources from community partners, a catered lunch, swag bags filled with supplies, and a campus tour.
Along with offering a look at the space, the event was staged to help the community learn more about the school, its enrollment process, and how it can help students ages 18 to 25 get started on their journeys toward earning their diplomas, CCPA Principal Fatinah Judeh said.
“We recently moved a few months ago, and so this is an opportunity to create visibility around our new administrative office and our classrooms,” she said. “We also have brought our workforce partners so that we can share resources with our students, and our teachers are here so that they can also interface with our community and our students and our staff.”
A flexible path forward
Established in 2015, CCPA is a first of its kind for the county. It’s a free public charter school created by the Orange County Department of Education to help students aged 18 to 25 obtain high school diplomas through flexible coursework.
That flexibility — online courses, independent study, small-group instruction — is crucial for those balancing work and family responsibilities.
Principal Judeh highlighted other supports during the open house, including a CCPA pantry stocked with essentials like diapers, baby formula and school supplies. Additionally, she said, students are connected with workforce partners to further support their educational and professional journeys.
Inspiring future graduates
In June, 141 CCPA graduates were honored at a ceremony in Fullerton, marking their official completion of high school. That brings the total number of academy graduates to about 1,100 since the program’s inception.
The walls of the new CCPA headquarters are similarly adorned with large graphics of students in maroon graduation attire, accompanied by real quotes from students, such as “Now I think about the future, I feel better about myself” and “It doesn’t matter how long it took, as long as we did it!”
The visuals serve not only to motivate current students but also to inspire prospective ones, offering a glimpse of what their own futures could look like.
Young adults in Orange County looking to further their education are encouraged to visit the College and Career Preparatory Academy website to learn more about the program and enrollment opportunities.