2005 General Plan - City Of Ventura

O U R E D U C A T E D C O M M U N I T Y8. OUR EDUCATED COMMUNITY are necessary to bring a rich culturallife to the community as well.Table 8-1Education LevelOur goal is to encourage academic excellenceand life-long learning resources to promote ahighly-educated citizenry.Lifelong LearningEducation is more important than ever before asthe foundation for the vitality of informedcommunity participation in Ventura. The VenturaVision calls for the city to be “a communitydedicated to educational excellence and anemphasis on lifelong learning.” A truly educatedcommunity is key to achieving most of the goalsin this General Plan because:• In the 21 st Century information economy ahighly educated and skilled workforce isvital to community prosperity,• Education and the institutions that provideit are critical to achieving environmentaland cultural leadership, and• An educated and informed citizenry isessential to sound planning and decisionmaking.While Ventura has a comparatively well-educatedpopulation (see Table 8-1), the high costs ofdoing business and finding housing in the city willforce even greater emphasis on businesses andjobs that require ever-higher levels of skill. Theneed and desire for lifelong learning will requirerelentlessly expanding educational resources andaccess to them in the years ahead. Plus, theassets that strong educational institutions provideVentura can build on an impressivebase of well-regarded public schools,array of private alternatives, majorcommunity college, satellite universitycampuses, expanding media-traininginstitute, law school, and threebranch libraries, among othereducational resources. The key tobecoming renowned as a local“learning community” lies in creatingstronger linkages between theseexisting resources and integratingthem into the physical and sociallandscape of our community.Leveraging our AssetsExcellence in public education is thetop priority for the Ventura UnifiedSchool District (whose boundariesextend beyond the city). In Ventura,the District manages 16 elementaryschools, four middle schools, threehigh schools, and one continuationhigh school, plus independent studyand adult education programs.In addition to District schools, the cityalso is home to more than a dozenprivate schools (see Table 8-2),serving 13 percent of elementary andhigh school students living in Ventura,according to the 2000 Census. Figure6-1 shows school locations in the city.Schooling CompletedPercent ofPopulationHigh School 21.7Some College 28.2Associate Degree only 9.6Bachelors Degree only 15.4Graduate Degree 9.3High School Diploma & Above 84.1Associate Degree & Above 34.2Source: 2001 Ventura County Economic OutlookTable 8-2Private SchoolsSchoolGradesFirst Baptist Day K-5St. Augustine Academy 4-12Sacred Heart K-8Ventura Missionary Christian Day K-8College Heights Christian K-8St. Bonaventure High School 9-12Holy Cross K-8Our Lady of The Assumption K-8St. Paul’s Parish Day K-8Grace Lutheran Christian Day K-6JamesonK-12Ventura County Christian K-12Hill Road Montessori Preschool K-3Wells Road Baptist Academy K-12August 8, 20052005 2005 Ventura Ventura General General Plan Plan8-18-1