Humble Beginnings...
Background:
With a very small amount of startup capital from federal grants, Encore Jr. /Sr. High School for the Performing & Visual Arts opened in Hesperia, California (“Encore – High Desert”) with 580 students under the direction of the nonprofit corporation, Encore Education Corporation.
Charter Terms – Encore Education Corporation has had charter petitions granted through Hesperia Unified School District with unanimous “yes” votes from the HUSD School Board three times. Encore’s first term in Hesperia was for three years. The second term was for five years. The third term was also for five years. Encore was awarded the fourth charter term for five years in January 2021.
Founders
Encore Education Corporation was started by a small team of high desert teachers and arts enthusiasts. It started with an after school program at Hesperia High School where Denise Griffin, John Griffin, and Paula Gharib held classes for the youth of the high desert.
The founders of the program wanted to be able to offer more to the young people of the high desert. They had reached maximum capacity for this program and wanted to be able to give more to kids and families that could otherwise not afford the type of classes that they were offering.
As soon as initial research was completed, the founders met with Arlene Gluck from Hesperia Unified School District to find out what the requirements would be to open a charter school in HUSD. The passion for the school grew as the process started. A web site was quickly built and within 90 days of the website launch, Encore High School had about 800 signatures for the petition to start the school in HUSD. By the time the petition went before the HUSD School Board, over 1600 people in the high desert had signed the petition stating that they were materially interested in having the school in the high desert, having their children attend the school, and being a teacher for the program in the high desert.
With a vote for approval with the HUSD School Board, Encore opened for the first day of school on 08/08/08. Encore has been building creativity in the high desert since 2008 and continues to grow and improve every year.
We would like to thank the founders for their years of service and commitment to the school.
Thank you
