CVHS Cancels Open House; SJH Changes Schedule

To recapture needed teaching minutes to complete the school year, Capistrano Valley High and San Juan Hills High schools have adjusted their schedules; in addition, Capo Valley High has cancelled open house.

Earlier, an audit the Capistrano Unified School District conducted found those two high schools had not scheduled enough instructional minutes throughout the year to meet state guidelines.

In a letter to parents last week, CVHS Principal Kevin Astor announced a number of changes to the schedule:

• The three finals days at the end of first semester – Jan. 30 and 31 and Feb. 1 will now end at 12:52 p.m.
• June finals –June 7, 10 and 11 – will also end at 12:52 p.m.
• The two days students take the California High School Exit Exams will be full days of instruction.
• The three days of standardized STAR testing will be lengthened by 30 minutes, with an end time of 12:32 p.m.
• In lieu of open house, the school will have a full day of instruction.

“ Our goal is to minimize the impact on our community,” Astor wrote. Capo Valley serves Mission Viejo and the Village neighborhood in San Juan Capistrano.

San Juan Hill High School

San Juan Hills is taking a different approach, changing the end-of-day for the alternating “early-out” Mondays. While school used to end at 1:45 p.m. on those days, they now end at 2:13 p.m. Principal Tom Ressler made the announcement in a recorded telephone call last week.

“[Monday] will be our first early out with the new adjusted early-out schedule, meaning that sixth period will be dismissed at 2:13,” he said in the message. “This will be the new early-out schedule for the rest of the school year.”

The two CAHSEE days, scheduled for March 12-13, will get out early, 1:10 p.m. STAR testing will be full days and finals will end at 2:40 p.m.

San Juan Hills serves students in San Juan Capistrano, Capo Beach and Ladera Ranch.