A little about our guest this week, Dana Moen:

My name is Dana Moen, principal of Classical Academy High School (CAHS). I have the great honor of serving as principal of this distinguished high school. CAHS is passionate about partnering with parents to provide the best education possible so that students become successful thinkers, communicators, and achievers. We provide a rigorous and flexible academic program that meets the University of California A-G requirements. As a Distinguished, award-winning, California public charter school, CAHS offers a nurturing environment teaching students to: work hard, live pure, lead with courage, and honor each other, while preparing students for college, career, and citizenship. CAHS has been recognized by Newsweek magazine as the 136th school in the nation for preparing students for college and number one in San Diego as the best high school for homebuyers in 2016. Classical Academy High School is located in downtown Escondido, is one mile from the 78 and 15 freeways, and is within easy walking distance from the Sprinter station on Valley Parkway.

----more----

Transcript

100:02:52,470 --> 00:03:10,110Scott Schimmel: Well, Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of YouSchool podcast. I'm here with a friend of mine and a principal local principal in San Diego, Dana, Moen- Dana, thanks for being on the show. And then give us a little context of where you're at what you're doing how you got there.

200:03:10,830 --> 00:04:00,540Dana Moen: Okay, great. Um, cut me off. If I'm too long but I'm at Classical Academy High School. I've been the principal for going on 11 years now. I have the opportunity to help start this school 15 years ago when we when we opened the school cool. How did I get into education? I love my high school experience like high school was amazing to me. I felt like that changed the course of my life. I did some things really well. I did some things really badly. through all of that I just really enjoyed High School. So I've never left I decided I wanted to be a teacher. So went to school, to be honest and be a math teacher. calculus kind of changed me changed me my course to history became a history teacher coach, did that for about six years. Then I started doing ASP advisor and then had this opportunity to start school Classical Academy school.

300:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,750Scott Schimmel: Where did you go to school in San Diego, you grew up here?

400:04:04,350 --> 00:04:16,860Yeah, I've I've been in Escondido guy my whole life except except for when I went to Azusa Pacific University and then got a job in Covina right next to Azusa, but I have been born and raised in Escondido, California. So

500:04:17,040 --> 00:04:30,210I'm happy to be back. For those people that don't understand classical academies. It's it's extremely well respected charter school, but maybe talk about the model. So other principals listening in can understand what you what you do. Yeah,

600:04:30,210 --> 00:06:17,250Unknown: so classical Academy, when I got on board, it was a K through eight model, and my wife had got a job as an educational specialist. And we were homeschooling our kids through classical, okay, that's a hybrid model, where most of the kids in K through six are coming to school two days a week. And the school is training parents and providing curriculum for three days at home. So that's what my kids were doing. That was the environment my wife was working in. I had got a job back at my alma mater, Escondido High School doing ASB their student activity, loving that. The school had gotten really, really large since I had gone to school. I mean, we were up maybe 2500 students when I mean just a different culture than even when I went to high school, you know, 20 years ago, or whatever it is 30 years ago. So I saw some great things happen at classical with the hybrid model. So I asked if there's anything I could help them do. And then Cameron curry now the executive