Oxford Academy, sometimes stylized as OA, is a
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
in
Cypress, California
Cypress is a city in northwestern Orange County within Southern California. Its population was 50,151 at the 2020 census.
History
The first people living in the area now known as Cypress were the Gabrieleno, a Native American tribe of the Ton ...
serving grades 7–12 as part of the
Anaheim Union High School District
The Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) is a public school district serving portions of the Orange County cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma, and Stanton. It oversees eight junior high schools (7-8), eight high schools (9 ...
.
As of 2022, the school was ranked #3 for the best high schools in California by
U.S. News & World Report, as well as #19 for the best U.S. high schools.
History
Built in 1960 on the corner of Orange Ave and Grindlay St in Cypress, Oxford Academy's campus originally served as the location of the Anaheim Union High School District's new middle school.
Oxford Junior High School was established in 1965, but closed soon after in 1980 due to declining enrollment. Afterwards, the campus hosted various different institutions for brief periods of time, including a satellite campus for Barclay College as well as the Cypress Cultural Arts Center. Finally, in response to district-wide school overcrowding, administrators reopened the site as Oxford Academy, a magnet school serving AUHSD students, in the fall of 1998.
Although some administrators and teachers expressed concern that the new school would poach the best students from schools around the district, they decided ultimately that the competition would be beneficial, not only for those high-achieving students at Oxford but also for other schools aiming to keep pace.
Admissions
Admission to Oxford Academy is done primarily for the incoming seventh grade class. Each year, about 200 spaces are reserved for students who reside within
AUHSD boundaries, which serves most of
Anaheim
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
and
Cypress
Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...
, but also portions of
La Palma
La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...
,
Buena Park
Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 mil ...
, and
Stanton.
The school also designates an additional 35 spots for those who may live outside the district borders.
In addition to this, there is also admission allowed for incoming eighth and ninth grade students, though only to fill in spaces for students in those classes who have left the school. When spaces are limited, the school may bar admission for such students.
Furthermore, to provide opportunities for students who live in all areas of the district, the school takes in an equal number of students from each of its regions (represented by the eight AUHSD junior high school districts).
The admission process is two-fold. First, during the fall, applicants must submit their final report cards for the prior two years, as well as some proof of residence and a reference from a teacher. Then, applicants who pass this initial filter are invited to take an entrance exam the following January. This exam consists of multiple choice reading comprehension and mathematics questions, short answer math questions, and a written essay. Students are then informed of their admission (or failure thereof) the following month.
The school's prestigious reputation has also given rise to classes offered by private tutoring organizations in the area, such as Perfect Score Academy and Pace Academy, to assist prospective students in preparing for the entrance examination.
Demographics
In the 2020-21 school year, Oxford Academy's enrollment totaled 1283 junior high school and high school students. Of this, boys numbered 643 (50.1%), slightly outnumbering girls, who tallied at 640 (49.9%).
[
Oxford's student body is mostly ]Asian-Americans
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peoples ...
. According to the NCES, its racial makeup during the aforementioned school year was
* 928 (72.3%) Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
* 231 (18.0%) Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
* 85 (6.6%) White (non-hispanic)
* 22 (1.7%) Two or more races
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many culture ...
* 11 (0.9%) Black (non-hispanic)
* 3 (0.2%) American Indian / Alaska Native
As reported by the State of California, 42.9% of the student body was eligible for either free or reduced-price lunch under the National School Lunch Act of 1946.
Dress code
Oxford Academy mandates a dress code
A dress code is a set of rules, often written, with regard to what clothing groups of people must wear. Dress codes are created out of social perceptions and norms, and vary based on purpose, circumstances, and occasions. Different societies an ...
for its students while on campus or at school-sponsored events. Students must wear a solid red, white, blue, or grey polo top paired with khaki
The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan with a slight yellowish tinge.
Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage relative to sandy ...
or navy-blue pants, shorts, or skirt. Black tops were once allowed, but were prohibited prior to the 2010-11 school year. Denim pants (including jeans) are not permitted. Students may also wear a sweatshirt or sweater of an appropriate color, though only on top of the aforementioned polo. If a jacket or coat is worn, it is permitted to be solid black. Socks are allowed to be some combination of these colors (or black), and shoes may also be solid brown. To fulfill these criteria, students generally wear a school-provided top, which is a solid-color polo with the Oxford Academy "OA" logo embroidered on the chest, as well as school-provided khaki bottoms.
There are many instances in which the school allows deviation from the standardized dress. Generally, students may wear formal attire to school if required to for a class or club-related event. On Fridays, students may wear class-specific or club t-shirts, though these must also be some combination of the approved school colors, and on the first Friday of each month they may even wear jeans, provided they also wear a college shirt. Spirit days, such as Halloween, enable an even greater break from dress code, though on these days students must still dress within the specified theme. Finally, the school holds "free dress days", typically on the last day of the semester, where students are allowed to wear anything which fits within the wider AUHSD dress code.
Violation of dress code during normal school hours results in the student being forced to change clothes ''in addition'' to an assigned consequence according to the school's progressive discipline policy (typically detention). Too many of such infractions may even cause the offender to lose the privilege of participating in the free dress days.
Academics
Oxford Academy aims to best prepare its students for college in a number of ways. For one, it runs on a "block schedule", holding even periods on Tuesdays and Thursdays and odd periods on Wednesdays and Fridays, mirroring the longer but more spaced out class structure found at most American universities
Below are links to lists of institutions of higher education in the United States (colleges and universities) by state, grouped by Census Region, as well as lists of institutions in United States insular areas and of American institutions locate ...
. The school also provides a large selection of advanced placement
Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...
(AP) courses for potential future college credit, even some which are mandatory (including, but not limited to, AP English Language
Advanced Placement (AP) English Language and Composition (also known as AP English Language, APENG, or AP Lang) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program. When AP exams were first implemen ...
and AP US History
Advanced Placement (AP) United States History (also known as AP U.S. History or APUSH () is a college-level course and examination offered by College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program.
Course
The AP U.S. History course is designed ...
). Oxford offers classes which fit the University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
"A-G Course" requirements, guaranteeing that students graduate having fulfilled the minimum course requirements for attending a school in the UC system. Students may even dual enroll at nearby Cypress College
Cypress College is a public community college in Cypress, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and belongs to the North Orange County Community College District. It offers a variety of general education (55 associat ...
to take courses which directly transfer to CSU
CSU may refer to:
* Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card
* Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code
* Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation
* Christian Social Un ...
or UC system schools.
Oxford Academy upholds a strict GPA
Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...
requirement for its students. 7th and 8th graders must maintain a 2.5, 9th and 10th graders a 2.7, and 11th and 12th graders a 3.0 grade point average in order to avoid being placed on academic probation. Failure to improve one's academic performance to this standard results in expulsion from the school.
Aside from its standard classes, Oxford also offers four different pathways - Biotechnology, Business, Computer Science, and Engineering - in an effort to expose students to different fields of study they may pursue after high school. In junior high, students take a pathway introductory course lasting one quarter each. Afterwards, in high school, students select a pathway and take three corresponding courses at their own pace. Students are also required to take at least four years of foreign language and two years of some visual and performing arts (also called VAPA). The foreign language offerings have changed over the years, with French and Mandarin being taught in the past. As of 2018, the two languages offered are Spanish and Korean. To fulfill their mandatory VAPA requirement, students may choose between orchestra, band, choir, and art.
Athletics
Oxford offers a variety of extracurricular sports for its students to participate in. High school students may join cross country, volleyball, baseball / softball, basketball, soccer, tennis, swimming, or track and field, and typically compete against other schools in the 605 League within the CIF Southern Section. Oxford used to offer other sports, such as golf, and notably does not have its own football team. Junior high school students may partake in intramural athletics, which include all the aforementioned sports as well as flag-football. They also play against other middle schools in AUHSD.
References
External links
Oxford Academy Website
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Education in Orange County, California
High schools in Orange County, California
Cypress, California
Public high schools in California
Public middle schools in California
Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
1998 establishments in California
Educational institutions established in 1998