Blue Ribbon!
First Place Boys 4×100 relay (back to back victories 2014, 2015)
*** *** ***
First Place “Boys 4×100 relay” team… and friends!
“Because we had two girls we had to run with the all boys division! Lyndon, Aiyana, Shyla, Spencer. They were magnificent. The ONLY coed team.” — Coach Curry
This Sunday our OTA Track and Field athletes will compete with other local schools.
Come root for OTA, the raining Kindergarten Track Meet Champions!
Slideshow: Highlights from 2014-2015 Track Meet
Slideshow: Track and Field Season is Here!
Future Pointers Track & Field Meet at Point Loma High School, April 12, 2015
Student athletes need to register with Coach Curry or send in papers to the OTA office by Tuesday, April 7! Entry fee is $10 per athlete. Come out to enjoy a fun community event on the PLHS campus. After April 7th registration will be accepted on the day of the event between 8a-10a for $25.
Grades/ Divisions K, 1, 2 will begin competition at 9am
Grades / Divisions 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 will begin competition immediately after, approximately at noon.
Print the registration forms here: 2015 Reg Form 1 and 2015 Reg Form 2
Spring Vacation…
Students & Teachers After School in Courtyard – Final Week Project Sprint!
Seventh Graders working with Mr. Watts….
Thank you OTA Teachers, for all you do for our children!
Fifth Graders working with Mrs. Cook…
Baseball Players, Want to Improve Your Swing?
OTA students and teachers … describe their school for new & prospective parents.
OTA was awarded a grant in 2014 to film our Learning Acceleration Labs & our “Project Tree” approach to teaching Music, Math, Science, Robotics, Seminar, Humanities, & Outdoor Ed; but since it was the last week of the school year when the videographer arrived and there were not as many activities to film, we asked him to interview students who had arrived recently enough to remember life “before OTA.”
Old Town Academy K-8 School is a free California public charter school located near historic Old Town, San Diego. The school is operated by a non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to promoting excellence in public education for California students.
Six Elements of our Academic Program:
1. “Project Tree” Project-Based-Learning System: Visual Goal Setting & Progress Tracking, Quality First Assessment (Pass/Try Again grading on all projects: Letter grades come at the end of learning, rather than putting an end to learning). System maximizes Independent Learning, Student Hands-on learning time, and Teacher Coaching Time.
2. Music-Math-Science Focus: Early Learning Programs such as: Music-to-Mathematics (every child learns to play piano and read music, starting in Kindergarten); Math & Science Olympics (every child learns programming, problem solving, and applied mathematics, using programmable robots and apps, starting in Kindergarten)
3. The Core Knowledge® Humanities Curriculum: Equity and Excellence for All Students, “velcro for the mind” (the more facts you know, the easier new knowledge sticks). Seminar Program for all students.
4. Learning Acceleration Labs: Computers dedicated to supporting classroom teachers and accelerate acquisition of core skills & concepts: Mathematics, Vocabulary-Reading, Geography, Science Simulations, Foreign Language, Musical Performance.
5. Outdoor Ed as Character Ed. We take Outdoor Recess and Physical Education seriously. No mis-education on the playground, no Lord of the Flies on the Field. Our teachers guide every minute of the day, from drop-off to pick-up. Team Sports as Character Ed, No Bad Habits, Every Child Learns & Plays Every Position, Masters Every Skill, Gets Game, and Gets in Shape.
Outdoor Ed: “OTA: Throw Like a Girl“
6. MAPS (Measures of Academic Progress) Quality Assurance System: An in-house assessment tool for measuring every student’s academic performance and growth over each academic year (NWEA.org) OTA Teachers are interested in improving performance, not grading it.
♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥
Great game today at Presidio Recreation Center for the 7th-8th Grade Boys. Tomorrow they play The Rock Academy (also at Presidio at 4:00).
Thanks to OTA Athletic Director Rich Curry for setting up a brand new basketball league and Coach Dan for coaching. Thank you High Tech Middle School for the competition.
*** 
Every Sunday until March (end of basketball season), the Presidio Gym will be reserved for OTA Students & Siblings (3rd Grade & older*), Alumni, Parents & Grandparents from 2-4 PM * This is not basketball practice, but free play time, though the Presidio counselors and OTA Coaches will help organize games and shooting competitions.
*Students in K-2 may attend only if a parent stays with them (in general we don’t recommend it as the baskets are too high and most children in K-2 are too small to play with the older children; but you know your child best).
The more parents who stay and play the better; but you may also drop off your 3rd-8th grade child/ren any time after 2 and pick them up at 4 PM. Please remember the gym will close at 4 PM and they will not be able to wait inside.