Eldorado Emerson Private School (also known as Eldorado School and Emerson Choice Academy) was a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

El Modena El Modena is an unincorporated area and neighborhood surrounding El Modena High School and within the city of Orange, California. It is located near and east of the intersection of Hewes Street and Chapman Avenue. Much of the area was annexed ...

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before ...

, United States. It was established in 1959 as a school for the gifted by Glory Ludwick.

History

Eldorado Emerson Private School was established in 1959, originally in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...

, as a school for the gifted by Dr. Glory Ludwick, M.D. (University of California Medical School), a psychiatrist who, according to the ''

Orange County Register ''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digital Fiest/Media News subsidiaries. ...

'', surrounds herself with fantastical objects including a

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

, giving off the aura of "a magician". It moved to

in 1963. The school began with a student body of 40 children at its launch, each with IQs of 120 or higher, a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 15:1, and music classes taught by Freida Bolinfante, then-conductor of the Orange County Philharmonic Orchestra. She founded the school as an answer to the frustrations about how "students with school problems were being allowed to progress all the time within the school system" with "nothing being done about it". The educator also created her own series of books to teach children reading, the ''Pigglepug'' and ''Mopinset'' series, due to her frustration with the materials then available. Ludwick tried to prevent students from writing while learning to read, believing it caused confusion. The school has always taught French, Spanish and other languages. Over the years, the school has had around 180–200 students across all grades. By 2010, classes consisted of 10 to 15 students, with 33 teachers and staff and one class per grade level. Unique aspects included classes taking trips overseas, students required to take one of four offered foreign languages and either to play an instrument or to take choir. 70% of students were from other countries, including China and Taiwan. The school was home to a "Monet Garden".

References

External links

* {{Authority control Gifted education El Modena, Orange, California Education in Orange, California Education in Fullerton, California Schools in Orange County, California Private middle schools in California Private high schools in California Educational institutions established in 1959 1959 establishments in California