On June 12, 2023, Senator Tom Umberg (D-Orange County), and the California State Senate, announced that the Orangewood Foundation, and Chief Executive Officer Chris Simonsen, have been honored as the 34th Senate District 2023 Nonprofit of the Year.
Read moreIt’s time to put the hard hats away at Samueli Academy. The Santa Ana-based public charter school recently completed its campus construction after a decade of a capital campaign, with the opening of a gymnasium and soccer field on the 7.1-acre campus. Samueli Academy is a program of nonprofit Orangewood Foundation, which also announced that the school’s 10-year, multiphase capital campaign is now complete. A total of $72 million was raised for the improvements.
Read moreThe Samueli Academy in Santa Ana soon will open Orange County’s first on-site campus dorms for foster youth, offering students who lack stable housing a place to stay during the week.
Read more“If they know we care, they respond,” said Anthony Saba, Executive Director at Samueli Academy in Santa Ana. He’s learned that “You can’t have good academics without a strong culture.” A culture of trust, respect, and hard work is evident in every classroom at Samueli Academy.
Read moreJoshua Howard shuttled between seven foster and group homes and attended 10 elementary and middle schools by the time he was 14. He was convinced he would never graduate from high school. He rarely studied or turned in his homework, and he often felt lost in class.
Read more“Fifty-four percent: That’s the statistic that Chris Simonsen said motivated him to act.
Read moreThe Samueli Academy, a Santa Ana public charter high school, celebrated its first commencement and reaffirmed this dynamic model for education is succeeding.
Read moreThe growth of hockey in Orange County has been a priority for the Ducks organization has taken a step forward recently. On February 16, the Ducks, H&S Ventures, Irvine Ice Foundation and the City of Irvine officially broke ground on new public skating facility at the Orange County Great Park. The facility will open in June 2018, and at a staggering 280,000 square feet will be the largest in California and one of the largest in the U.S. It will include three NHL-standard ice rinks and one Olympic-sized, as well as a 2,500 seat arena.
Read moreThe Orange County Register shared the stories of several students participating in the Samueli Academy’s summer job program. Thanks to partnerships with 41 local businesses, all 115 incoming seniors were able to gain invaluable internship experience as part of this program.
Read moreSamueli Academy students Cynthia Segura, Blanca Chavez and Eric Mondragon were honored recently at the Anaheim Ducks hockey rink during a ceremony to unveil new Ducks merchandise they helped create.
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