O'Farrell Community School
32°42′09.09″N 117°03′55.16″W / 32.7025250°N 117.0653222°W
| The O'Farrell Charter Schools | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
6130 Skyline Drive San Diego , CA 92114 United States | |
| Information | |
| Former names | O'Farrell Junior High School O'Farrell Community School O'Farrell Charter School |
| Type | Public Charter School |
| Motto | Where college isn't just a possibility, it's a priority |
| Opened | 1959 |
| School district | San Diego Unified School District |
| Education system | Charter |
| Hours in school day | 7 |
| Campus type | Urban |
| Colors | Gold, royal blue, navy, white |
| Sports | Football, basketball, volleyball, cross country, soccer, competitive cheer |
| Team name | O'Farrell Falcons |
| Rival | Mountain Empire High School Maranatha Christian Tubman Charter School Calexico High School |
| Superintendent | Cindy Wagner |
| Website | http://ofarrellschool.org/ http://ingenuitycharter.org/ |
The O'Farrell Charter Schools, or The O'Farrell Charter School, is a system of public charter schools in San Diego, California, United States. The school opened its doors in San Diego Unified School District in 1959 chosen in 1957 as Mabel E. O'Farrell Junior High.[1] It was voted to become a charter school in 1994 and currently encompasses The O'Farrell Charter Elementary, Middle, High School and Ingenuity Charter School which has multiple campuses and is primarily online.
Through the years, the O'Farrell Charter School has received numerous awards and distinctions. It was named one of America's top high schools by U.S. News and World report six years in a row. It has also been named a school of distinction by National Center for Urban School Transformation. O'Farrell is an AVID National Demonstration School.
President Bill Clinton made a visit to San Diego in 1995 to sign the Goals 2000 education bill and to visit O'Farrell because it was a charter.[2]
The school was mentioned in Hillary Clinton's book It Takes a Village.[3]
Schools within a school
[edit]O’Farrell operates as a community-based charter system encompassing multiple grade levels within a single campus. It is organized into different grade-based divisions, including an elementary school, a middle school, and a separate high school, each designed to serve the developmental and academic needs of its students while maintaining a unified educational mission. The place's “schools within a school” structure allows O’Farrell to provide continuity for students from kindergarten through twelfth grade while having a strong sense of community across grade levels. All schools operate on the almost-exact same campus in the Skyline–South Encanto border area.
Each O'Farrell school has a principal and vice principal, and has a separate program, teachers, and bell schedules.
In 2014, "Ingenuity Charter School, Blended Learning Independent Study Program" was added as an official part of The O'Farrell Charter Schools. Students attend in person at one of the school's resource centers at least twice per week and work independently online on the other days.
Athletics
[edit]O'Farrell Charter High School offers various 'O'Farrell Falcons' athletic clubs, mainly found in football, volleyball, basketball and cross country. The school recently added a girls' flag football team in 2024. O'Farrell fields their teams within the CIF San Diego Section, mainly Division V for a large amount of sports (Division V-AA in football).
Boys' soccer/basketball at OCS are both D5 teams in the CIFSDS, and spanning a wide range of sports throughout multiple parts of the CIF that they've moved into, such as D4 girls' soccer/volleyball and D3 men's volleyball, O'Farrell has found recent success in these sports.
On October 18, 2024, O'Farrell Charter football snapped a large 28-game skid beating the Warriors of Rock Academy 38-12. This made for their first victory since beating Whittier Christian La Habra in 2021, but also their first home win in team history since beginning in 2018. A later win at rival Mountain Empire High School, a 27-6 O'Farrell win over the RedHawks, qualified O'Farrell into that year's playoffs, where they went on to give up a 19-0 lead to Coastal Academy High School in the first round and did not advance to become D5-AA champs of the San Diego Section.
In 2024, both soccer teams and both basketball teams; which are all four O'Farrell winter athletic programs, were all eligible for the CIF playoffs.
Alma mater
[edit]Hail O'Farrell this our home
Our hearts be ever true
Loyalty and honor sing
The gold and royal blue
Soaring far above it all
This is our family
Forever here, forever one
Falcons ever free
Notable alumni
[edit]- Rosalie Hamlin, known for 1960 song "Angel Baby"[4]
- Shirley Horton, California assemblywoman and former mayor of Chula Vista[5]
- Tom Waits, claimed to have attended this school and remembered it as an all-black school in a 1973 interview[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Celebrating 150 Years: The Sixties". San Diego City Schools. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2008.
- ^ John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. "William J. Clinton: Remarks at the O'Farrell Community School in San Diego, California". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved February 7, 2008.
- ^ Clinton, Hillary (December 12, 2006). It Takes a Village. Simon and Schuster. p. 245. ISBN 1-4165-4064-4. Retrieved February 7, 2008.
o farrell san diego california charter 1994.
- ^ "The Biography of Rosie Hamlin".
- ^ "Biography of Shirley Horton". Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
- ^ "Quotes: Childhood". Tom Waits Library. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2008.
