Thanks to an anonymous donation, a local high school school will soon be able to provide increased help to families and youth who do not have permanent homes.
Under a new partnership with Project Hope Alliance, Huntington Beach High School will receive $600,000 in funding to provide support to the school’s homeless youth population. Issued in annual allocations over the next three years, the money will be used to hire and house three Project Hope Alliance case managers on the school’s campus. The case managers — who can work with up to 30 students at a time — will provide resources and services to families experiencing homelessness.
But why Huntington Beach?
While the high school may be known for educating students in some of the county’s most affluent neighborhoods, according to a recent article in the Orange County Register, around 3,000 Huntington Beach High students live at motels, in trailers parked in a relative’s driveway, or RV’s in Walmart parking lots.
The school has identified about 30 students who qualify for services under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, reports the Register, and new funding will directly aid this student population.
And here are some of the other education stories we are following this week:
- California kicked off its first attempt at a statewide education data system to provide trend information to help students and families with college and career planning.
- The Orange County United Way is seeking volunteers to help with its Class of 2022 Campaign aimed at mentoring 300 high school seniors from Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.
- An Orange County “College Bound program” is helping to make higher education more accessible for local young women.
- As Homeless Youth Awareness Month comes to a close, OCDE Newsroom staff are highlighting three things to know about homeless education services in Orange County.
- A virtual forum presented by the Orange County Department of Education this week celebrated the deep histories, dynamic cultures and enduring contributions of Native Americans and explored how educational systems can more purposely meet the needs of Indigenous students.
- Nearly 150 educators, industry leaders and students on Wednesday gathered virtually to celebrate eight years of developing career pathway opportunities and programs in Orange County.
- A new COVID-19 variant that goes by the name Omicron has a number of mutations that could impact how contagious it is and the ability of immune systems to protect from infection, according to the California Department of Public Health.
- For the second time in recent months, the Orange County Board of Education is mounting a legal challenge to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic-related state of emergency declaration, the Daily Pilot reports.
- In related news, local school boards are increasingly pushing back against an expected vaccine mandate for students after waves of parents have been protesting the mandate since it was announced, the Voice of OC reports.
- And finally, some of California’s largest school districts are trying an unconventional tactic to help students re-engage in school after distance learning and boost their chances of acceptance into the state’s public colleges by dropping D and F grades.
This is the part where we encourage you to keep up with local education news stories by bookmarking the OCDE Newsroom, subscribing for emailed updates and following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.