Oxnard Adult School recently moved to a new location this summer.
The new and remodeled campus is at 1800 Solar Dr, in Oxnard and the first day of classes for the new semester was this Wednesday, August 25.
The school offers a number of classes from English learning to medical technology courses all at a fair cost, and some free, according to Principal Kathy Greaves. Greaves is also the principal for Condor High School.
“[We have] brand new everything. Furniture, equipment, all the technology,” Greaves said. “One area of the building is going to be all MedTech, pharmacy tech, and caregiver [classes]. Our costs are really reasonable as compared to some private schools – we’re nonprofit,” said Greaves to VIDA Newspaper.
English as a Second Language (ESL) courses will continue to be offered at the adult school at 6 levels.
“We’re also offering a high school equivalency test to get your diploma,” Greaves said. “We’re doing that in Spanish and English which is amazing because we’re one of the few adult education [programs] in the area that give a Spanish HiSET test out.”
A HiSET exam allows one to show that they have the knowledge of a high school graduate. Most community colleges, trade schools, and four-year colleges accept this credential.
For ESL and high school prepping classes there is no charge, as well as for the HiSET exam.
“Students may purchase books if they’d like but if they can’t afford them, we’ll lend them,” Greaves said. “This year we’re also going to lend out computer technology. We got a grant, so we got technology for loan, and we’ll probably look at buying some hotspots or WIFI if we need to for students,” said Greaves to VIDA Newspaper
Greaves says that earning a high school degree or equivalent credential can help one earn up to $12,000 more a year.
Assistant Principal Leticia Carabajal has been working with different school sites to establish English skills classes for parents.
“Oxnard Adult School has different partners to facilitate things. We’re serving a need in the community,” Carabajal said. “I work at the comprehensive sites knowing that there is a lot of parents that do need skills in English or courses in English, and also technology.”
Pacifica, Channel Islands, and Oxnard High School are a few of the sites where these courses are available for parents.
Oxnard Adult School also offers a sewing class for those who would like to learn or improve their sewing skills.
“It’s fabulous. We have all kinds of machinery in there,” Greaves said. “[Students] could do whatever project they want, and the teacher will guide them through it. They can sign up and take a 6-week or a 12-week course.”
Greaves says that pricing for a class like this may vary, but the 6-week course is currently offered at $125.
For anyone who would like to improve their computer skills, a course is offered for that as well. Carabajal says that during the pandemic, she saw a lot of students’ digital literacy improve due to the switch of in-person learning to online.
Because of COVID-19, a lot of changes had to be made to accommodate students and staff to maintain everyone’s safety.
“I think we were the best adult school throughout the pandemic. We kept going,” Greaves said. “We kept doing everything we had to do to keep our funding.”
Greaves says that they allowed students to test in the parking lot and even gave them laptops to use in their car and PPE.
“It was phenomenal what staff did here,” Greaves said.
The adult school will continue to offer some classes online for students who need them.
Greaves also mentioned that parent education is a major contributing factor to the success of future generations.
“If we improve parental education the children of the parents are also going to do better,” Greaves said.
Classes are available in the morning and evening at Oxnard Adult School. A bus stop is located outside of the facility that passes by in the evening for those who need a means of transportation.