OPA provides a rigorous, standards-based, academic curriculum. A structured academic environment encourages students to not just meet, but exceed grade level expectations.
We are proud of our academic programs and student achievement.
Highlights of our award-winning instructional programs include:
Champion Profile: Developed with stakeholder input to outline the core competencies and skills that our Champions (students) should have when they transition from OPA to high school and beyond. Our curriculum and programs focus on the unique learning opportunities and experiences to implement these competencies. The core competencies include Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Character, and Civic Engagement.
Capstone Project: These digital portfolios measure success in the Champion Profile core competencies and allow our students to showcase their work. More to come!
Thinking Maps: A set of 8 visual patterns used by teachers that correlate to specific cognitive processes. They are used across all grade levels and content areas to build the critical thinking, comprehension, and communication skills necessary for academic success in every domain. Understanding Thinking Maps.
Write From the Beginning: A whole-school, comprehensive writing program that leverages Thinking Maps to build a strong foundation for writing across all genres and content areas.
- Helps students develop their ideas and organize their thinking prior to writing.
- Develops critical and creative thinking skills that are foundational to good writing.
- Prepares students to write rich narratives, as well as written responses for both literary and informational text.
- Develops critical writing and communication skills necessary for success in college and the workforce.
- Builds a whole-school culture for effective writing with a vertically aligned, developmentally appropriate curriculum.
Accelerated and Advanced Coursework: OPA offers a rigorous and differentiated instructional program for all students. In addition, we offer accelerated and advanced coursework at our middle school. Please visit our OPA Middle School webpage for more information, including the OPA MS Acceleration/Advanced FAQ.
2022-2023 CAASPP Results are in!!
We are extremely excited to share the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) results with our families and prospective families! Both OPA South Orange County (SOC) and Opa Saddleback Valley (SV) scored higher overall in ELA/Literacy, Math, and Science than any other Orange County District!! For more information regarding CAASPP, please visit our Assessment page.
Current Adopted Curriculum
English Language Arts
Grades K-5: California Reading Wonders (2017), McGraw Hill Education
Grades 6-8: StudySync (2017), McGraw Hill Education
Mathematics
Grades K-5: Ready Classroom Math (2020), Curriculum Associates
Grades 6-8: EdGems Mathematics (2019), EdGems Math LLC
Science
Grades K-8: Amplify Science (2019), Amplify Education, Inc.
Social Studies
Grades K-5: California History-Social Science myWorld Interactive K-5 (2019), Savvas
Grades 6-8: California History-Social Science myWorld Interactive Secondary (2019), Pearson (Savvas)
English Language Development
Grades K-3: California Reading Wonders English Learner (2017), McGraw Hill Education
Grades 4-8: Inspire Literacy, iLit (2018), Pearson K-12 Learning
Foreign Language
Spanish
Seat-based: Realidades (2014), Savvas
Virtual Learning: Autentico (2018), Savvas
Mandarin
Integrated Chinese, 4th Ed. (2019), Cheng & Tsui Company, Inc
Health
8th Grade - Positive Prevention Plus (2018), Positive Prevention Plus
