Friday evening, at 1310 Union Plaza Court in Oceanside, the “Wave of the Future” Ceremony took place for the Grand Opening of Coastal Academy’s newest school, and the moving of their high school from an older location in Oceanside to a 4 building, 100,000 sq, ft. complex at Union Plaza Court.
The four buildings were once County Services office buildings that were vacated some time ago. Coastal Academy was able to acquire the buildings for around $12 million dollars after a 5-year search and making some interior changes in the office spaces, turning the buildings into classrooms for a variety of subjects and curriculum the school offers. The area was upgraded for ADA specifications and seismic upgrades.
There was also an enclosed parking area under Building C. Coastal Academy is a public charter school that has 7 campuses in North San Diego County, Oceanside, Vista and Escondido. The total enrollment is around 5,300 students in grades TK-12. Coastal Academy in Oceanside was founded in 2003. The high school, in 2017, had 146 students and today the new campus is serving 775 students with an expected enrollment of around 900 in 2026.
The Grand Opening celebration was held in the large plaza area of Building C and was sponsored by Hamann Construction, Burgeon Beer Company and Aelott Air Conditioning. Featured entertainment by singer/songwriter Monica Larrea, selections of craft beer, wine and mocktails, Hors d’oeuvres passed out and chef-inspired small plates from two chefs from Flavor Chef catering as guests could vote on which chef made the best small plate entrée.
Chef Marcus was cooking Cedar River Farms Braised Short Ribs with mash potatoes and a mushroom demi and Chef Matt Brophy made Cheesy Pepper Jack Grits and Jumbo Shrimp in a whiskey butter sauce. Both were excellent. After a bit of networking the event began with Chief Executive Board Foundation Officer Kurtis Indorf welcoming everyone, thanking the many people who assisted their Foundation in acquiring the facility and financing the endeavor.
He introduced Aaron Armstrong, from Hamann Construction, who introduced various people from their group who were responsible for turning the office buildings into a high school campus. San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond was the next speaker, indicating Coastal Academy is a “top notch education” organization and he is glad he was able to get a $220,000 dollar grant for the school. He said he loved the options available for education and he was glad to be a champion for education and improvement
The Supervisor next read a Proclamation, declaring May 9th at Coastal Academy Day in San Diego County. Currently Coastal uses various sports facilities from schools and areas in Carlsbad and Oceanside, like Army and Navy Academy’s gym in Carlsbad and the Jr. Seau Gymnasium in Oceanside for volleyball and basketball. Indorf then reminded everyone that tours would be held to see the changes in one of the buildings to turn the space into classrooms.
For the tour we met Coastal Academy High School Principal Samantha Martinez in the Atrium area of Building C. Samantha is extremely excited to be part of the direction Coastal Academy is headed and strongly supports their commitment to helping students become Thinkers-Communicators-Achievers.
She said the four buildings are lettered at the present time, A-B-C-D. We walked upstairs and saw a huge dance floor space in the first room. This space is used for yoga, dance classes and teams, cheerleaders practice space and much more. Down the way from this room, we entered a large classroom that is the space for Culinary Arts Instructor Ashley Tarr. Ashely said she has been developing the Culinary Arts Program for the past 10 years.
The room has several large screen televisions hanging so the students can see her when she is preparing various food dishes at her kitchen. Student kitchen areas are scattered around the large teaching area. She said her students coined the concept that she teaches “Knife Skills to Life Skills” as they learn about cooking and all of its aspects. The next room we visited was the Art classroom for Adrienne Wing.
She said at the present time she teaches Art 1 and will be adding Art 2 next year. She also teaches Digital Art for higher level art skills and touches on the job aspects of going into this for future college or jobs. Going to the third floor we visited Coastal Academy Athletic Director Glen Henton who listed the various sports teams available for students to participate in. These range from football to cross country to volleyball and basketball and much more.
They also have a Surf Team. Just down from this presentation we spoke with Tyler Lopez, the Science Chair and a Physics and Zoology instructor. The final stop was to hear from Jason Stewart, Coastal Academy’s Photography instructor. Jason said he teaches Beginning and Advanced Photography and is using a Photography lab where students learn how to develop and print their film as well as digital photography.
They also have a studio where students can learn lighting techniques. Building A is the home of Coastal Academy’s Language, History, Special Education classrooms and the Administrative Offices. Building B houses science, band, health and fitness classrooms. Building D is used for support staff, staff training and hopefully soon a gymnasium.
