SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Center for Students Has New Programs

The College and Career Planning Center is beginning its fifth year with new programs to assist Capistrano Unified School District students in making plans for the future.

Workshops on how to write college application essays and improve study skills are among the new courses being offered to the district’s students at the center.

Center officials are also producing a video about the operation, said Pat Ibanez, the center’s facilitator. She presented a progress report on the center to the school board at its last meeting.

Since it opened, visitations have increased from 1,756 in the center’s first year to 2,549 last school year, Ibanez told the board. Part of the reason is the center’s hours--Monday through Thursday from noon to 9 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.--are structured to allow students to attend between school hours and extracurricular activities.

Another reason is that the center has moved to a larger facility, where it is staffed by Ibanez, two guidance counselors and a clerk. It has a classroom for group instruction and six computers.

In addition to the new workshops, the center offers information on financial aid and scholarships, college application assistance, video tours of school campuses and a program for eighth-graders on how to be a successful high school student.

One of the more popular programs among juniors and seniors is the self-paced computer session that helps them prepare for the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the American College Testing Program.

Board trustees and administrators praised the center for its excellent work at the board meeting last week.

“I have not seen anything like it in any other part of the country,” district Supt. James Fleming said.