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TOP NEWS SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK

Orange County Academy of Science and Arts (OCASA) College Prep’s new principal, Alicia Baillie, wants to continue the school’s focus on personalized student learning. Photo: Collin Breaux

New Principal Excited to Lead the Way at OCASA College Prep

BY COLLIN BREAUX

Alicia Baillie has been an educator for about 17 years and is bringing that experience to her role as the new principal at Orange County Academy of Science and Arts (OCASA) College Prep, a charter school in San Juan Capistrano.

Baillie started on Aug. 1 and looks forward to guiding the school’s faculty and students. OCASA College Prep opened in August 2020.

“We’re still young. One of the things I want to continue that’s already here is the focus on personalized learning,” Baillie said. “So often, a school develops what it’s going to offer, and the kids can only choose from what that is. The families kind of have to mold what their interests are based upon what’s available to them.”

Proponents of charter schools often cite the wider variety of curriculum and learning options for students, as opposed to traditional public schools. OCASA students have a mentoring session with teachers every two weeks.

“Honestly, if I knew how quickly I could get things done at a charter school, I probably would have moved sooner,” Baillie said. “I love the district schools I’ve been in. I’m proud to have been a part of the districts I’ve been a leader in, but there’s just layers of bureaucracy that slow down doing what we know is the best things for kids.”

“This is what we get to do,” she continued. “We get to dream big and do it here.”

Prior to her current role, Baillie was an English teacher in Cerritos and worked in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District as the director of assessment, research and evaluation.

“I missed kids. I missed the action of being in a school, and I started looking for some positions where I could get back into schools more,” Baillie said. “I saw this position, and as I read more about the school, if I could design my own school, this is what I would have designed.”

She cited OCASA’s focus on personalized learning and “joy-filled classrooms” as to why she wanted to work on campus.

“My expertise is in curriculum design, and I really focus on creating organizations that are both efficient and effective but have just a spirit of fun and joy,” Baillie said. “That’s what attracted me to this school. That’s why I’m here.”

She intends to keep OCASA’s focus on “mastery learning,” which means students are encouraged to master content instead of merely doing homework or worksheets. That approach involves field trips with a purpose—or “field studies,” as Baillie calls them.

“I really believe that if we can get students out into the world, experiencing what real life is like in the work world, then they’ll understand why we’re trying to get them to learn things now,” Baillie said. “Yes, algebra’s really useful for solving a problem. Yes, U.S. history is really critical to understand the current political situations. Once we’re getting them out there and exposed, we’re going to expand horizons, and they’re going to come back and be more motivated to do the homework.”

That hands-on exposure could involve taking leadership students to a Los Angeles Angels game, where they would talk to someone from the Angels office team about possible careers.

“They actually have a scavenger hunt to look at how are they are running an event and how are they keeping people entertained and active and involved in positive ways,” Baillie said.

OCASA College Prep is also looking to build and expand an athletics program.

“We may not have a championship football team, but we’ll have basketball and volleyball and track,” she said.

Since becoming the principal in August, Baillie said the transition has been “fast.”

“I’m used to small schools, but this is the smallest,” she said. “Just enjoying being with (students) and seeing the world through their eyes again is just delightful. It’s just fun.”

COMMUNITY MEETINGS

FRIDAY, SEPT. 30 Coffee Chat 8:30 a.m. A spirited town hall forum on community issues. The first Friday session of the month will be held virtually via Zoom video conference; all other Friday forums will take place in person at Hennessey’s Tavern in San Juan Capistrano, 31761 Camino Capistrano. Follow Coffee Chat SJC on Facebook for information.

TUESDAY, OCT. 4 City Council 5 p.m. The San Juan Capistrano City Council will hold a scheduled meeting open to the public. City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto. sanjuancapistrano.org.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 12 Planning Commission 5 p.m. The San Juan Capistrano Planning Commission will hold a scheduled meeting open to the public. City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto. sanjuancapistrano.org.

THURSDAY, OCT. 13 Design Review Committee 4:30 p.m. The San Juan Capistrano Design Review Committee will hold a scheduled meeting open to the public. City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto. sanjuancapistrano.org.

FRIDAY, OCT. 14 The next print issue of The Capistrano Dispatch publishes.

Providence’s $712 Million Expansion Project to Bring Satellite Health Centers to SC, RMV

BY SHAWN RAYMUNDO

Providence will soon open a pair of satellite health care facilities in Rancho Mission Viejo and San Clemente as part of a multimillion-dollar expansion plan that also includes the construction of a new patient tower on its Mission Viejo medical campus.

For $712 million, Providence plans to build its new patient care tower, offering roughly 100 new beds, at Mission Hospital, as well as develop the two multi-specialty health centers in San Clemente and RMV, commonly referred to as The Ranch.

“Caring for our neighbors is our primary mission, and having just celebrated our hospital’s 50th anniversary, we’re excited at the opportunity to grow with our growing community, and to continue providing care for the next 50,” Providence Mission Hospital Chief Executive Seth Teigen said in a media release.

Talking with The Capistrano Dispatch on Tuesday, Sept. 20, Teigen said that Providence considers itself as the primary health care provider to the two communities. Providence, he added, wanted help to fill the medical needs of San Clemente with the loss of the local hospital in 2016 and to provide services in the ever-expanding RMV.

“We really consider those our communities to serve,” Teigen said, noting Providence’s two hospitals—Laguna Beach and Mission Viejo—are closest geographically. “We felt a responsibility to go out to where they are.”

According to Providence, its new health care centers at The Ranch and in San Clemente will offer urgent care services, an imaging center and a clinic with primary care physicians, OB/GYNs and a rotation of other specialty-care providers.

SJC Playwright Wins Award in Theatre Competition

BY COLLIN BREAUX

A scam call ended up working out in Joseph Hullett’s favor.

Hullett, who lives and works in San Juan Capistrano, recently won the second-place prize in the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild Julie Harris Award for his play Wreck of Ages, which he said is about an unprivileged Generation Z girl pulling a “granddaughter in jeopardy” phone scam on an elderly male who is a disabled but wily ex-New York Police Department captain.

“When I got the news (about the award), I was elated,” Hullett said. “I actually started screaming. My wife jumped out of the bathtub. She thought I hurt myself. It was very exciting. I went through the house, yelling.”

Hullett tapped into the adage of “write what you know,” because the play’s scenario happened to him.

“I got a telephone call, and the telephone call was a girl crying, and she was saying, ‘Daddy, daddy, I’m in trouble. They’ve arrested me,’ and things like that,” Hullett said. “I was almost positive it wasn’t my daughter, but it sounded like my daughter. Many, many years ago, I had arranged for a code word for my daughter, so she would know if someone said, ‘Your dad wants to see you,’ she would know what to say.”

The person on the other line didn’t know the code word.

Hullett had also heard of similar scams and, from there, the idea for the play began forming in his head. He worked on it for about three years.

“In particular, what I’m trying to do with this play is sort of having confrontations between old and young. You have age coming together,” Hullett said. “You also have White and Black coming together. The old man is White. The girl is Black. You also have the idea of he’s a former NYPD cop, so you have the police versus non-police.”

Hullett—who works as a psychiatrist in his day job—is no stranger to dramatic awards or writing. He won first place in the same competition back in 1993 for a work called The Pledge, which was his first play.

“The award was actually started by Neil Simon a long time ago in 1977. It was renamed for Julie Harris in 1983,” Hullett said. “It’s been around for a long, long time. It gets a lot of entries and interest, because the prize is large.”

He also writes short stories and novels and got into penning plays when told his stories read like stage performances.

“I like dialogue. Partly, I look at it as a psychiatrist. I learn things about people by hearing them talk,” Hullett said. “They tell me stories, and I have to interpret what those stories mean. That idea of hearing people talk in a story or play or book is important to me.”

Hullett has written 10 full-length plays since The Pledge.

“Most of them have won some kind of award. They’ve been produced somewhere. They’ve been read and stuff like that,” Hullett said. “They’ve gotten some attention. I’m certainly not Neil Simon or David Mamet or anyone like that.”

A number of his plays, but not all, have been performed on stage.

“There’s a theater here in Orange County called the Chance Theater. It’s in Anaheim. There were three of my plays that were done there,” Hullett said. “I like to make a joke. One of my plays had a stage reading at one of the two places in the world where silence is rigidly enforced: the main branch of the New York Public Library.”

Wreck of Ages is currently not being performed on stage, but Hullett hopes it eventually will be.

In the meantime, Hullett remains focused on his creative instincts.

“I continue to write all the time. I started a long time ago. My long-term goal was to be a writer of some kind,” he said. “Right now, my goal is to continue to work with the plays that I have—this one, especially—to try to get this to a theater, let people know it did win the award. It will probably get a little more attention that way.”

Hullett is also working on a novel inspired by detective stories. The plot centers around an old tough guy dealing with the twilight of his life.

“The title of the book is Remainder Man. There’s a remainder that we all have to continue to work with as we get older,” he said. “This detective, in his old age, gets involved in this very, very difficult case. That particular novel is focusing on how we deal with age.”

CUSD Addresses E-Bike Use with New ‘Safe Routes to School’ Policy

BY COLLIN BREAUX

Given the rise in use of electric bikes, the Capistrano Unified School District is establishing a policy to govern their use on campus.

The CUSD Board of Trustees approved allowing the district to implement a “Safe Routes to School” policy on Wednesday, Sept. 21. In-depth details of the policy were not spelled out during the meeting or in an agenda report. Each school site will develop e-bike procedures.

“Strategies in support of the Safe Routes to School Program shall be based on the grade levels of the students and an assessment of the conditions and needs of each school and the surrounding neighborhoods,” the report said.

Trustees did not extensively comment on the agenda item, aside from suggesting minor revisions before passing the item. The policy previously came up at an August board meeting during a first reading of the policy. Board President Martha McNicholas said the policy is “still in development.”

“It is essential for our schools and our community,” Capistrano Unified Council Parent Teacher Student Association Executive Vice President Michele Ploessel-Campbell said. “It will help save student lives.”

The Niguel Hills Parent Teacher Student Association recently hosted an e-bike education event in conjunction with the Dana Hills Parent Teacher Student Association, where the Safe Routes to School policy was mentioned, Ploessel-Campbell said.

Safety concerns over e-bikes have become a hot topic in South Orange County, with officials, law enforcement and school resource officers emphasizing an education-first approach to addressing community concerns of reckless ridership.

“Students riding e-bikes to/from school and the storage of e-bikes on campus needs to be regulated,” the board report said. “A committee of district and site administrators developed a protocol for e-bikes, which includes storage, security, permits, education, bike classifications and safety. This policy has been reviewed and edited by legal counsel.”

The policy specifically outlines that the CUSD Superintendent or a designee may appoint a Safe Routes to School Program coordinator and identify or establish district or school site committees to oversee and coordinate related activities.

The district can also collaborate with other entities including transportation agencies, cities, county agencies and community organizations.

“The Superintendent or designee shall explore the availability of grant funds and other sources of funding to support related projects and activities,” the policy said. “The Superintendent or designee shall periodically report to the board on the implementation of program activities and progress toward program goals.”

An agenda item intended to advocate for local public health departments to have more say in public health matters— brought about by COVID-19 restrictions being mandated by the state—was removed from Wednesday’s agenda. (Cont. from page 3)

Teigen further explained that through a partnership with Exer Urgent Care, the San Clemente location— adjacent to Chick-fil-A on Avenida Vista Hermosa, just off the 5 Freeway—will also offer outpatient ambulatory services to the Laguna and Mission Viejo hospitals in the case of acute concerns, such as if a patient is experiencing a heart attack or stroke.

Similar to San Clemente, The Ranch facility, located at Chiquita Canyon Drive and Airoso Street, will offer the same services and is meant for Providence to “bring health care to the community,” Teigen said.

Construction of the San Clemente location is already underway, costing roughly about $12 million to $15 million, and is expected to open in 2023, according to Teigen. The RMV project—costing between $40 million and $45 million—has a target opening of 2024.

At Mission Hospital, Providence looks to use the new four-story tower to house state-of-the-art operating suites and cardiac catheterization labs, while enhancing the neuroscience center, its cardiovascular programs and maternity services.

“The project will provide caregivers and providers with a contemporary, fully equipped environment in which to offer exceptional patient care and ease their way to serve patients,” Providence said in the release.

Providence said it will also construct a new multi-specialty ambulatory surgery center with the intention of streamlining surgical care for patients, as well as attracting “new physician partners and (offering) the latest minimally invasive care options.”

“I think what our hospital is trying to do and our strategy has been: as this community grows, we want to grow with it,” Teigen said of the expansion to better serve South Orange County, adding: “We’re trying to grow and meet community needs.”

Touching on the half-century-old facility in Mission Viejo, Teigen noted that some of the concerns surrounding the structure include the roofing, as it’s met its limit on the number of times it can undergo reroofing. He also said there are antiquated boiler systems and not-so contemporary operating rooms.

“We have some major services that live in this building, and we want to be able to deliver an exceptional experience that the community expects,” said Teigen.

With construction expected to break ground in 2023 and last roughly six years, Teigen said that Providence will gradually phase out of its building and move into the new tower.

Indigenous Descendants, SoCal Community Members Reflect on Junipero Serra’s Legacy

BY COLLIN BREAUX, THE CAPISTRANO DISPATCH

Lifelong San Juan Capistrano resident Stephen Rios is fine with the San Juan Capistrano city seal no longer depicting Junipero Serra hugging a young Indigenous boy.

“I’m glad it’s been changed. I was never comfortable with, and never really liked, that parochial hugging of that young boy,” said Rios, who lives on Los Rios Street and has deep ancestral ties to San Juan. “I think it sends a wrong message. I think it sent a message that was untrue to many people, and not all the priests loved the children. Not all the priests loved the people. We know that story. We know the brutality that we went through. It’s kind of an illusory projection of, ‘I’ll protect you,’ starting when they were kids.”

Members of the local Juaneño/Acjachemen community—the Native Americans who first lived in what is now San Juan—recently shared their takes on Serra’s legacy, the old city seal, the new city seal and the general historic Mission system with The Capistrano Dispatch. Serra’s name is still depicted in the new seal on a Mission bell.

The city seal design was recently changed to include depictions of Native American Kiicha huts, a horse rider, the Saddleback Mountains and other local features. Though the given reason for changing the seal was so it comes up better on a smartphone, criticisms over Serra and the Mission system’s past treatment of Indigenous people have come up over the years—points alluded to at times by city officials when fostering and discussing the new seal design.

In particular, Indigenous people and advocates have said using Native Americans to build Mission San Juan Capistrano and other California missions was tantamount to slave labor and that European colonization of the area wiped out Native American culture. Junipero Serra—who was canonized in 2015—is considered the founder of modern San Juan due to establishing the Mission.

Jerry Nieblas, another lifelong San Juan resident whose family spans generations in town, said the previous seal gave the message that people existed in San Juan Capistrano because of the Mission.

“It sort of dominated everything, and I was uncomfortable with that seal, because I went to Mission school. It always bothered me when I saw that statue,” Nieblas said. “I remember in second grade, I asked when I took a field trip to the front gates, ‘Why is this priest standing over this Native American boy? Why does he look so angry like he’s disciplining him?’ ”

Nieblas was told the priest wasn’t disciplining the youngster but, rather, was teaching the boy about God and the Catholic Church. Nieblas further wondered why the boy couldn’t face the viewer or stand side-by-side with the priest in the old seal.

“(Changing the seal) is long, long overdue, because the Mission is here because of our people, our Native American side,” Nieblas said. “That Native American blood, that’s what brought the Mission here to this community. That Mission exists because of us. We don’t exist because of the Mission. This town doesn’t exist because of the Mission. Really, it’s just another chunk, another layer, you might say, of this community.”

San Juan history exists beyond the Mission—including with Los Rios Street, the Montanez Adobe and the Blas Aguilar Adobe, Nieblas said.

Serra was “just a part” of the Mission system that was “destructive” to Native American people and wiped out traditions and cultures, Nieblas said.

“The language ceased. The religion ceased. Everything stopped for them,” Nieblas said. “What I try to explain to people, to educators when I’m giving them a tour: imagine somebody coming into your home, and all of a sudden said, ‘You can’t dress like that. We’re going to put you in a uniform. All this has got to go. We don’t want you to live here anymore. We want you to change your name. We don’t want you to talk about your past.’ ”

Rios advocates for ongoing dialogue about Serra, the Mission and San Juan history.

“I’m not a cancel culture guy. I don’t like the cancel culture,” Rios said. “We learn from that history. We talk about that history. I think these people who are controversial or may have done some questionable things in the past, we shouldn’t cancel them. We should perhaps put them where they belong proportionally and then allow a discussion to follow through with it.”

Jerry Nieblas’ cousin, Gigi Nieblas, likes the new seal design—including the depictions of oranges.

“I love different parts of it, most of it. I love the oranges, because we used to ride our horses and be able to eat oranges,” Gigi Nieblas said. “They were plentiful. Orange trees have always been a part of this area since I’ve been here.”

Gigi Nieblas also likes the depictions of walnuts on the new seal, because her ancestors took care of walnut groves at what is now The Ecology Center.

Rios also praised aspects of the new seal.

“This is nailing it, in a lot of different ways. I’m in tune with Saddleback. Saddleback is prominent,” Rios said. “I like that, because of all our history that goes there and all the people that would go up there.”

Other people familiar with Serra shared their perspectives on him when contacted by The Capistrano

Stephen Rios, Gigi Nieblas and Jerry Nieblas stand at the Putuidem Cultural Village in San Juan Capistrano on Tuesday, Sept. 20. The three descendants of San Juan Capistrano’s Indigenous people spoke favorably about the city’s new seal design, which no longer depicts Junipero Serra hugging a young Native American boy. Photo: Collin Breaux Dispatch, including JSerra Catholic High School President Rich Meyer.

Serra left a legacy through his contributions to Southern California and as the “spiritual father” of the West Coast, Meyer said. JSerra is “blessed” to carry his name, Meyer said.

“We’re really unfazed,” Meyer said of criticisms of Serra. “His legacy is a testament of someone who gave his life to others.”

Serra should continue to be honored “unequivocally,” and his memory is depicted “everywhere you look” in San Juan Capistrano, Meyer said. Serra did a lot of good for a lot of people and displayed fortitude, Meyer said.

“It’s always easy to criticize history from a modern perspective,” Meyer said.

There are no plans to change the JSerra school name. Meyer declined to comment on the new San Juan seal, as he was unfamiliar with it.

Janet Bartel, a volunteer historian at Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, also spoke in defense of Serra. Along with being a “major figure” in the development of California’s missions and the Western United States in general, Serra was involved in educational and philanthropic enterprises, Bartel said.

“These missions are recognized all over the world,” said Bartel, who has been involved with mission history for 37 years, served on the boards of California Mission Studies Association and California Missions Foundation and is not of Native American descent.

Serra advocated for Native American rights and a “peaceful transition” to improve the lives of Native people, Bartel said.

Objections to the previous San Juan Capistrano seal reflect more on an individual person than the actual visual depiction, Bartel said.

People wanting to have contact with each other is human nature, said Bartel, who brought up that she has pictures of her children embracing sports coaches as an example of how she feels that image is not derogatory.

“He did everything in his life to protect the Native people,” Bartel said. “The Native people were hunter-gatherers and probably considered their life idyllic, but Father Serra could see the future and saw it would not always be idyllic.”

In response to criticism of Serra, Bartel said very few people consult primary sources of Mission history and that critics don’t know the exact source of where negative claims originated. Abuse and the downfall of Native people began during the Gold Rush, Bartel said.

Bartel said Native American people are welcomed and given food and water when they show up to protest.

“It’s their holy ground,” Bartel said. “There is never a time when they aren’t welcome at Mission San Diego.”

Statues of Serra were toppled throughout California in 2020 during “Black Lives Matter” protests, but remained intact in San Juan Capistrano, including at JSerra and Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Controversy over Serra led to Serra High School—a continuation school in San Juan Capistrano—reverting to its original name of Capistrano Union High School in 2021. The Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees voted to enact the change, which was well-received by school and local community members. CD