Charter school secures Hollister location

Lea este artículo en español aquí.

After a year-long delay, San Benito County Polytechnic Academy is set to begin classes next school year. The charter high school secured the Briggs Building in downtown Hollister as its campus and plans to open Aug. 6.

The building previously housed the San Benito County campus of Gavilan College. 

The school is part of the San Benito High School District and is open to any student who lives within the district’s boundaries.

Board President Ariel Hurtado told BenitoLink in July 2023 that the school will reach out to “disconnected and low-achieving students, giving them extra support early so that they can succeed academically and personally.” 

Principal and Learning Director Nicole Prater said enrollment will begin March 10 and that the school will send out information to families who previously enrolled. She said approximately 100 students enrolled for the 2024-25 academic year before the school’s opening was postponed because it had not secured a site. Those students either went back to Hollister High School or San Andreas Continuation High School, were homeschooled, or enrolled in an online independent-study charter school, Prater said.

For its first year the school’s goal is to have up to 200 students. It plans to increase capacity to 350 students in its second year and 500 in its third year.

Prater said that, having secured a location, the focus has shifted into hiring teachers and staff. She said to serve 200 students, she will need as many as eight teachers plus four instructional aides, an academic counselor and office staff. 

“It’s important for families to understand how dedicated we are to the college and career aspect,” she said. 

Students will be tested on their reading and math skills before being assigned to classes.

“We’re focused on bringing students up to grade level before moving on to the regular course work,” she said.

Prater said in addition to the core academic curriculum, Polytechnic Academy will also develop students’ “soft skills,” such as leadership, teamwork, communication and financial literacy. Community service will be required for freshmen and sophomores. Juniors and seniors will develop a community service project.

“We’re just very excited about this program,” Prater said.

Classes will start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:20 p.m. The board also approved an one-hour after school program ending at 4:20 p.m. Thursdays are scheduled to be an “early-out” day, with students finishing their last class at 2:20 p.m. The early days are meant for staff to work on conferences, coaching sessions and course development.

Briggs Building

The school will lease 8,200 square feet of the ground-floor level of the Briggs Building from the city of Hollister from March 2025 through June 2027. The lease agreement includes three one-year options.

According to the agreement, the academy will pay $24,780 per month and an additional $20,000 annually for utilities. It will also pay $5,708 quarterly for up to 36 dedicated parking spaces located in the garage, which is on the top floors of the building. The monthly rent and parking space costs are subject to increases based on the Consumer Price Index.

Prater said the academy considered a property at 172 McCloskey Road, and the Abundant Life Church building located on Bolsa Road, but both came with concerns about being available by August. 

Prater said the challenge in the Bolsa Road property was that it required a traffic study from Caltrans, which would take time to conduct and likely require road improvements. 

Tough test

The founding of the charter school did not come without challenges. In this case, they came from the San Benito High School District, Aromas-San Juan Unified School District and both districts’ teachers unions, which claimed it would duplicate existing services in the county and would divert funds from local schools. 

Despite these objections, the San Benito Board of Education approved the charter school in October 2024. The San Benito High School District sued the board to reverse the decision, claiming it had complied with applicable code in reviewing the charter school’s application. The court denied the district’s petition.

We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service nonprofit news.

The post Charter school secures Hollister location appeared first on BenitoLink.