Understanding Canyon Crest Academy: Academics, Activities, and Financial Oversight
Canyon Crest Academy (CCA) is a public high school located in San Diego, California, known for its strong academic performance and diverse extracurricular activities. This article explores various aspects of CCA, including its history, academic programs, extracurricular offerings, and recent scrutiny regarding its foundation's financial practices.
A Brief History and Overview
CCA opened its doors in the 2004-05 school year, initially admitting only freshmen. Each subsequent year saw the addition of a new class, culminating in a complete student body by the 2007-08 school year. During its inaugural year, classes were held in portable trailers while the main campus buildings were under construction. The construction was completed by the end of the 2005-06 school year. The overall cost of building the campus amounted to $103 million. Until 2014, admission to CCA was determined by a lottery due to high demand. However, the lottery system was discontinued in 2014, allowing all students within the district who wished to attend CCA to do so. CCA operates on a semester class schedule, enabling students to complete eight classes annually, four each in the fall and spring terms.
Academics at Canyon Crest Academy
Canyon Crest Academy is committed to providing positive, meaningful and rigorous learning experiences that promote the intellectual, social, physical and creative development of students. The curriculum responds to evolving student interests and includes specialized and in-depth studies. Students are supported in taking intellectual and creative risks as they engage in their studies. Canyon Crest Academy honors the diversity of thought and culture while being united in its mission.
CCA has consistently demonstrated strong academic performance. In 2015, the school's average SAT score was 1892, significantly higher than the national average of 1490. Similarly, the average ACT score was 28.5, compared to the national average of 21.0. Notably, in 2007, the College Board recognized CCA's class of 2008 for achieving the highest AP World History scores among schools of its size. Key instructors include Mark Van Over, who taught AP World History, and Garret Happ, who taught AP Calculus BC.
Extracurricular Activities and Athletics
CCA offers a wide array of extracurricular activities. The school's mascot is the raven, and it competes in the Avocado West league alongside other high schools such as Torrey Pines High School, La Costa Canyon High School, Carlsbad High School, San Dieguito Academy, and Sage Creek High School.
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The school's athletic program includes a variety of fall and winter sports. Fall sports include Boys Water Polo, Girls Golf, Girls Tennis, Girls Volleyball, Cross Country, Girls Field Hockey, and Girls Flag Football. Winter sports include Boys Basketball, Boys Soccer, Girls Basketball, Girls Soccer, Girls Water Polo, and Wrestling.
Demographics and Community
CCA's student population primarily consists of White and Asian students from surrounding neighborhoods in North San Diego County, including Carmel Valley, Torrey Hills, Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Encinitas. Canyon Crest Academy (CCA) is a learning community based on the values of shared responsibility and mutual respect among teachers, staff, parents, and students.
Scrutiny of Canyon Crest Academy Foundation
In recent years, the Canyon Crest Academy Foundation (CCAF) has faced scrutiny regarding its financial practices. The foundation raises private money from students’ families and other donors to fill in gaps in programming, supplies and other needs at schools that aren’t covered by state funding. They also have not been following proper financial controls. The school district does not have a formal written memorandum of understanding or agreement with any of the foundations, the audit found.
An investigation by Canyon Crest Academy students Litong Tian and Kevin Wang brought to light several concerns regarding the foundation's financial operations. Their report scrutinized the foundation’s financial practices, particularly its practice of taking a hefty cut of the donations made to student clubs to pay for general funds and foundation administrative costs. “I just want the foundation to work better for the students,” Tian said. Wang, 18, is starting at Indiana University, and Tian, also 18, is starting at Cornell University this month. The foundation has refiled five years worth of tax filings, she said. “Our top priority remains the students and families we serve,” Sincek said. Leaders of the three other high school foundations - La Costa Canyon, San Dieguito Academy and Torrey Pines High - said they appreciate the audit and are committed to transparency.
Following the students' report, the San Dieguito Union High School District ordered an independent audit of all school foundations. Auditors found inaccurate financial reporting, missing records and more. The audit said the foundations’ inaccurate financial reporting raises the risk of fraud and misappropriation of funds. The audit also found discrepancies between the CCAF’s records and previously audited balances and tax returns.
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One specific issue raised by Wang and Tian was the foundation's practice of charging significantly higher fees than other school foundations in the district. Other foundations charge between 5% to 10%."They took the 25% fee off the top of donations. And to top that, they took so long to reimburse for expenses," Wang said. "It's just way too high for what little they're providing for these clubs."
In response to the audit findings, the San Dieguito Union High School District approved new oversight rules for school foundations. The foundation has also lowered its fee to 20%, Tian said that's an important first step, but more needs to be done."But we would like to see it go down further," he said. "When the district releases their MOU with the foundation … we want to see a standard set of guidelines, a standard set of policies that apply to all foundations. So that way, the CCA Foundation's fee would be in line with the other three foundations in the district."
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