College Has Alternative Lesson Plan

MOORPARK —  Geometry was so easy, it was boring. History had too many dates to memorize. And in English, the other kids talked too much and distracted him.

Derek Aten, 18, has a list of excuses for the host of Cs he earned last semester as a junior at Moorpark High School.

But teachers and counselors say Aten, a computer whiz, is not a typical underachiever. Rather, they say, he is a creative, independent thinker who is not performing at his academic potential.

He is also a perfect candidate for a program beginning this fall at Moorpark College that fuses secondary school with higher education and offers an alternative for high-potential juniors and seniors who are not excelling in a traditional school environment, they said.

“Derek is ready for a challenge,” said Andi Mallen, who has counseled students at Moorpark High School for 12 years and will now oversee the college’s new program. “He is bored with what’s in front of him.”

The program, called the High School at Moorpark College, will start Aug. 21 and is open to students in Conejo Valley, Moorpark and Simi Valley unified school districts.

It will be funded by an annual $150,000 grant from the office of the chancellor of the state’s community college system and by money the state provides for K-12 education.

The alternative school program is modeled after so-called “middle college” programs pioneered in New York in the 1970s. Since then, a handful of high schools and community colleges in California have offered a similar combination curriculum.

Students at the alternative school at Moorpark College will take college courses in the morning and high school level English and social science classes in the afternoon, taught by teachers hired specifically for the program. For each college course, students will earn both high school and college credit.

Mallen, who will also serve as principal, said she expects to accept about 100 students for the first year, eventually expanding to more than 250.

Admission will be based on a student’s demonstrated talent and ability, rather than grade point average.

“If not gifted, students must be bright, but just not functioning at their best,” she said.

Applicants will be interviewed to determine whether they are sufficiently mature to successfully carry a schedule with as many as three college courses each semester. They also must provide recommendations from teachers or counselors.

While the program will help students get a head start on their college education, students who are already superachievers will not be accepted, Mallen said.

“This is not for the honors kids, the [Advanced Placement] kids, those on the tennis team, the Academic Decathlon and those headed for Harvard,” she said. “We love them all, but that’s not the way the program is designed.”

Aten is a shoo-in for admission, mostly because Mallen recommended that he apply.

At 18, he said, most of the other kids at school seem much younger.

“Half the people at my school are so immature,” said Aten, who was held back a year in second grade. “In the classroom, they spend so much time talking and socializing.”

Aten, who works part time as a computer programmer for a company in Woodland Hills, plans to attend Moorpark College after he graduates high school. He then wants to transfer to a university for a bachelor’s and master’s degree in a computer-related field.

He said he imagines the new program would be the right choice for smart, outsider kids who just don’t fit in at traditional high schools.

“The social, popular people should just stay there,” he said.

Mallen said she has received nearly three dozen applications and plans to begin conducting interviews next week.

For further information, contact Mallen at (805) 378-1400, Ext. 1667.