About Us
For more than three decades, Ventura County residents envisioned a public four-year university to serve the region. This vision became a reality in December 1998, when the California State University Board of Trustees approved the conveyance of the Camarillo State Hospital site to California State University Channel Islands to establish a comprehensive university in Ventura County. In the fall of 2002, California State University Channel Islands opened its doors.
During the community meetings in preparation for CSUCI, participants also expressed a need for a PreK-8 school that would be both visionary in its approach to education and a professional development model for educators. CSU Channel Islands recognizes the need to educate local individuals who would obtain teaching credentials and remain in the area to meet the needs of area school districts and their students. The CSUCI vision as a “lighthouse” for educators includes having students in University pre-requisite and credential programs working and learning with master teachers in a professional development school setting for a portion of their pre-service teaching experience.
In August 1999, a Steering Committee of approximately forty county-wide educators, community members, and CSU representatives convened to articulate this vision of a “lighthouse” school, formed subcommittees and assembled the beginning components of a school plan. The vision was ratified and served as the guiding document for the school's development. It is this vision that rallied the community to discuss the University Preparation School at CSU Channel Islands. The UPS petition, initially approved by the Pleasant Valley School District on October 11, 2001, has received unanimous approval from the PVSD board since then. In 2016, the school changed its name to University Preparation Charter School at CSU Channel Islands.
UPCS functions under the governance structure and direction of the University Preparation School at CSU Channel Islands Board of Directors. The 501(c)(3), non-profit public benefit corporation will maintain the name University Preparation School at CSU Channel Islands (“UPS”). The Board of Directors, UPCS faculty and staff, UPCS community members, and CSUCI faculty are partners in implementing the University Preparation Charter School at CSUCI. The UPS Board of Directors is the governing body responsible for establishing policy and overseeing ongoing evaluation, as outlined in the charter legislation and the UPCS charter petition, for personnel, instructional program, budget, student welfare, transportation, dispute resolution, facility oversight, public relations, and community outreach.