La Mesa Schools

Growing School Faces Limits

LA MESA -- In many ways, things couldn't be better for the fledgling College Preparatory Middle School on Jackson Drive.

Tests scores are good -- 855 -- well above the crucial 800 baseline. The school's first class of eighth graders will be heading off to high school. And despite the state budget woes, this little charter school has managed to pay its teachers and please parents.

In fact, there's a pretty large waiting list of parents who want their children to join this modest school that has no athletic fields and mostly operates out of a church basement and its parking lot.

And that's where the challenge comes.

The school's request to allow student population to grow from about 180 to 259 has hit a speed bump in the form of the La Mesa Planning Commission. Though the fire officials and code enforcement says the building can handle that crowd, the fast growth of College Prep Middle has raised questions about when requests for such a significant change in use at a property triggers greater concerns for a neighborhood.

"I think we need some guidance from the City Council on this one,'' said Dexter Levy, the vice chairman of the Planning Commission. "This is such an overall change for that neighborhood that we sort of felt it was beyond our charge to decide on this one. We think council should hear from the school, the church, the neighbors and weigh this one.''

The council will get its shot when the commission's decision to proscribe the school's size is appealed at the June 26th council meeting.

For Christina Callaway and Mitchell Miller, this start-up school's co-directors, wending their way through the regulatory process has been more challenging that running the two-year-old school.

Callaway and Miller see themselves as public servants. They have started a school that is serving local families to great success, answering a dire need, and has played a role in helping spur economic activity in the area. When neighbors expressed concerns, they built a wall and made changes to limit the number of students outdoors at any one time.

"We have many parents who come through this neighborhood now from throughout La Mesa and East County,'' Callaway said. "They shop at Ralph's, stop at the mall, eat at Sun Tacos (next door). Before we were here, what was here most of the week? Tumble weeds.''

"And we're educating children,'' Miller says. "That's a great public service.''

The state education money that supports College Prep has allowed the Church of Christ, the school's landlord, to upgrade its entrance and manage the daily traffic flow. Earlier complaints of noise from adjacent neighborhoods were responded to with the construction of a barrier wall that now keeps most balls and a lot of the ambient noise away from nearby homes.

Still, the property has moved from a relatively limited, weekend church use, to a more intense daily school use. The church was originally permitted years ago to have a small, elementary school, but College Prep students are older and the school's size has gone well beyond the original scope.

Given the proliferation of alternative school models being pursued today, the balance between the public good a school represents and the impact they have on a neighborhood is likely to come before the Planning Commission again. In fact, just down Jackson from College Prep, in the old Barbecues Galore store, the third charter school in two years is setting up shop.

The City Council can listen to the arguments and decide to grant the school's request, ask for more information or agree with the Planning Commission's limit, but much hangs in the balance for the small school and a deadline looms.

There are about fifty families who hope the school can add fifth grade next school year and take their children, but without the higher limits, those families may have to seek other schools.

Callaway and Miller said they don't expect their school ever to grow much beyond 225students, but they may have to eventually seek another location if this limit is imposed.

That would leave the Church of Christ, whose members have invested heavily in the facility to attract this school, without a tenant and the rent.

The council can expect to hear from the church members at the June meeting as well.

Tags: Christina Callaway, College Prepatory Middle School, Government, La Mesa Today, La Mesa news, Mitchell Miller, Schools

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Comment by Anne Isaaks on June 22, 2012 at 9:46am: I am a La Mesa resident of 14 years and my children, both CPMS students, are lifelong La Mesans. Ironically, I grew up across the street from a middle school (then junior high). I have a sense of what living near a school can entail. Every day I am grateful to the administrators and educators of CPMS for what they provide to middle school students. As the post below succinctly states, this school promotes and achieves excellence. It is small enough to do so. Each student is personally known to the involved and caring staff, and each student's needs are addressed, supported and challenged. This is a school of structure and firm academic, behavioral and character expectations. No skateboards, loitering, piercings, amorous behavior, or smoking here. Whenever I drive by large middle schools I can well understand not wishing to live nearby, due to traffic congestion and unsupervised teenagers. CPMS is very different, due to its small size, excellent supervision, attentive management, and behavioral expectations. The school goes the extra mile to nurture and maintain positive relationships with the community. Drop off and pick up are smooth and efficient. Studies were undertaken and fences were built to minimize noise impact on neighbors. I hope that the proposed expansion is not opposed for reasons having more to do with anti-charter ideology and less to do with actual environmental concerns. I have seen charter schools fail and I have seen charter schools work. CPMS is a shining example of a charter school working beautifully.

Comment by Claudia Anne Erickson on June 19, 2012 at 2:43pm: It is amazing to see how smoothly this school is run and the greater good it brings to the community. You have here a fine example of how a middle school can really work effectively to teach its students. No drop out factory here! They have an API score of 859 (compared to La Mesa Middle = 791, Parkway= 836 and Spring Valley Middle= 786). They are in fact doing a LOT of things right and I would like to see this expansion be allowed to go forward. I understand that some are concerned about the impact on the community but we are not talking about a big change here but rather an increase of 45 5th graders. The school has no further plans to expand but does want to have the chance to give 5th graders a boost so they are better prepared for middle school. As it stands now kids coming into 6th grade are not as prepared as they should be and the CPMS staff could really help fill this void. Other schools in the area are facing 35 - 40 kids in a classroom with a total student body of over 1000. CPMS has 20 kids in a class and will have 225 students total. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that it is easier to do a good job teaching kids when there are less of them. They have a plan for staggering their drop off and pick up schedules so that the increase in students should not make for a big change for the community. In addition to which, several of the new kids will come from families already in attendance so that won't mean an additional car in the parking lot. I am always amazed at what a well oiled machine that drop off/pick up procedure is. This is such a great example of a Charter school living up to its promises. They most certainly have my support!

Comment by Russell Buckley on June 7, 2012 at 10:30am: I commend those who started this charter school. I generally support the choice provided by Charters - and particularly support them at the middle school level where I think our education system starts to fall off track. I do understand the need to ensure that the school is a good neighbor and meets zoning and other standards. My concern is that opponents of any Charter schools - namely the entrenched teachers unions - will find bogus reasons to oppose the school. So I urge those on the Planning Commission to give the school a fair hearing.

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