About the Students

The adolescent youth who live and learn at San Pasqual Academy are dependents of the Juvenile Court in San Diego County.  These adolescent foster youth are victims of child abuse and neglect and have been unable to reunify with their families, live with a relative, or find a permanent home through adoption.  In many cases, the youth have experienced multiple changes in their placement and education, leaving them behind in their academics, unprepared for independent living, and unable to form lasting relationships with peers and significant adults. 

At the Academy, youth have an opportunity to focus on their schooling, obtain job skills, learn the skills necessary for independent living, tap into their creative talents, make long lasting friends, and develop a support base for assistance when they leave the foster care system.

The Academy youth represent a rich blend of cultures, creating a diverse campus community.  Approximately 33 percent of the students are Caucasian, 31 percent African-American, 24 percent Hispanic, 1 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 3 percent Native American, and 8 percent bi-racial. 

Sibling groups are able to live together on campus and maintain daily contact with one another.  If a high school age youth at the Academy has a younger sibling between the ages of 12 and 13, the younger sibling may be eligible to live at the Academy if they meet the program’s admission criteria.  The younger sibling will attend the local middle school until they are ready to enter ninth grade at the Academy’s on-site high school.