The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District hosted an open house and parent information session at the Universal Sports Institute — also known as USI — site at Parkview School on Sept. 6.
This event marked the official launch of the district’s new diploma-bound program for elite student-athletes in grades three through 12, designed to support those in both middle and high school through concurrent enrollment.
According to the district, USI was established to support student-athletes by integrating athletics and academics through a flexible independent study model. The program allows students to complete core academic courses and participate in up to two courses and athletics at one of the district’s comprehensive high schools.
This hybrid approach enables students to attend classes and lunch at traditional schools while benefiting from specialized athletic training in strength and conditioning, mobility, speed, agility and recovery.
The institute aims to become a district-wide sports performance hub, offering personalized sports performance programs, metabolic testing, nutrition guidance, physical therapy, recovery programs and sports science pathway courses. Additionally, USI will extend its strength and conditioning and recovery services to high school athletes after their school day.
Superintendent Dr. Alex Cherniss and other district officials welcomed families, students and community members to tour the state-of-the-art facility and learn about the resources available.
“Education has changed. It used to be kids coming to you and you as a student, you have to conform to the school you go to. We flipped that model,” said Dr. Cherniss. “Now our school conforms to our kids and what they need. USI is an academic and athletic institute where we take kids and provide them with skills and technology that otherwise nobody else could afford, and we do it for every kid that wants to be part of this program.”
The district’s conversion charter campus — Orange County School of Computer Science in Yorba Linda — will serve as the primary training hub for USI, with each of the district’s comprehensive high schools hosting its own USI training sites.
The program has already installed a range of state-of-the-art equipment from leading vendors, including Keiser (A400 line), Sorinex, Woodway, Exerfly, Swift Performance, Rogue Fitness and Perform Better. Additional sports performance and recovery tools are expected to be added in the coming months to further enhance the program’s offerings.
“We’re really excited to be working with the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District to see what’s happening with their students in sports and academics,” said Dennis Cole, OCDE chief of staff. “The work here at the Universal Sports Institute perfectly blends those academics and athletic achievements.”
For more information about the Universal Sports Institute, visit https://usi.pylusd.org.
Watch the brief video above, produced by OCDE’s Media Services team.