The Canyon Country branch of Mission View Public Charter School, an eighth to 12th grade independent study charter school, celebrated its fifth anniversary with a grand reopening on Thursday.
Mission View, whose charter district is the William S. Hart Union High School District, welcomed the community with free food, such as popcorn and cotton candy, in addition to the opportunity to smash whipped cream in teacher Meri Travers’ face.
Members of the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, as well as the representatives of local elected officials, recognized the growth of the school within the last five years, and presented the school with certificates.
Chamber President John Musella led the ribbon-cutting ceremony and reflected on the past five years.
“Thank you all for being with us today to celebrate this very special five-year anniversary here for Mission View. They are great partners with the chamber, great activists here in the community, [a great] educational institution,” Musella said to the attendees. “We were here five years ago, we opened the doors, and we’re glad to be back.”
Principal Sharon Smyth was then introduced by Musella, providing a short speech of gratitude to the audience.
“We are so grateful to have you all here today. I actually opened this site five years ago. I took a little hiatus and went to another school site, and then came back to see the growth that’s occurred here in these five years. It’s been amazing,” Smyth said to the attendees. “Trying to get the community out and involved, we now have such a great group of people here … Kids are graduating and lives have been changed every day here. I couldn’t be prouder to be able to celebrate with you and couldn’t be prouder to work with the great staff that I work with.”
Musella then congratulated Smyth and commemorated Mission View’s impact in the community, as well as its membership with the chamber, before the ribbon was cut.
Administrative Assistant Kerri Spurlin, who joined the team two years ago, reflected on the importance of the school.
“I think that our school’s absolutely amazing; specifically, it has the most incredible staff. Our students are so supported, both educationally, socially and emotionally, and our kids are taken care of from A to Z,” Spurlin said.
In addition, Smyth acknowledged the growth of the school, and the goal of having a growing presence in the community.
“We work in partnership with the district to make sure that kids get their high school diploma. Students can accelerate their progress through high school, or they can catch up and go back to the district,” Smyth said.
Smyth added that enrollment has grown a great deal since the school opened.
“We have gone from starting with 20 students, and we’re now up to 230 students. Our eighth grade program is growing by leaps and bounds. We truly, truly love our jobs, and I do believe that we change lives every day. We’d love to get more students enrolled with us,” Smyth said.
