SAN PASQUAL ACADEMY BETTER THAN FOSTER HOMES. I KNOW FIRSTHAND.
— Dave Pelzer
As a student at the San Pasqual Academy, I attended a book signing at Barnes & Nobles by Mr. Pelzer. He’s known for his best-selling nonfiction books about being rescued and placed in the foster care system.
Since my departure from the academy in 2004, I have returned to the campus on several occasions for various reasons.
1. I have stayed connected to the alumni, former students and some staff members throughout the years.
2. In collaboration with the Playwrights Project, an organization that turned my real-life story into a fictionalized play, I returned to the academy in 2013 to share my play and to encourage other students in three different periods and classes to share their lived experiences. I was also privileged to watch a few student plays come to life.
3. I have worked with foster youths transitioning from wraparound services — supportive programs and resources — to San Pasqual Academy.
4. In early February, I completed a second residency at the academy through the Playwrights Project, encouraging students to write as a co-teaching artist and published author.
Working with the students at the academy was heart-moving; listening to their lived experiences and watching their stories come to life was priceless and a true blessing. Their writings depicted real and authentic vulnerability and profound work — words that I wish I could share, but for safety/protection reasons cannot. It remains unforgettable and a great honor.
Being back on campus — walking past the gym and football field, then into the cafe and the tech center — felt like I was back at home. It was familiar territory, and something I would not be able to do in some foster homes I resided in.
In 2020 and this year, due to COVID-19, I co-taught residencies as a teaching artist via Zoom. After the news broke of the academy’s pending closure, I could not stop thinking about all of the students, their faces and the stories they shared. I asked myself. “Where are they going to go? Where will all of the foster kids who can’t live with foster families go?”
After the 2011 agreement in the Katie A. v. Bonta class-action lawsuit challenging the treatment of foster children in California, wraparound services became available in San Diego County. I was blessed with the opportunity to work wraparound services as a youth/ family/parent partner, and learned that regardless of socioeconomic status, religion or race, all families have problems.
I became a ward of the state at the age of 13, when my mother terminated her parental rights after eight years of attempted reunification, and my father was due to be deported upon his release from prison.
Foster homes were not a permanent solution for me because I would run away. While working for wraparound services and through trauma-informed training, I learned that this “fight, flight, freeze” reaction is common for any human who has been through trauma. I also learned that “shaming and blaming ” are not effective responses, and are in fact counterproductive.
When I first got to the academy in early 2002, the only option for mental health treatment was medication. However, since my frontal lobe was still developing, I was not a fan of meds. The academy also hired several therapists. But in my opinion, some therapists and staff seemed more focused on completing their own academic requirements for school or internships than about helping us. They didn’t seem to last more than three months. That is why I praise the staff who have stuck around the academy for years and the former academy students who have gone back! Nobody knows this foster kid thing like a foster kid and those who open their hearts to be there.
The San Pasqual Academy was not perfect, and I can guarantee that to this day it is still not perfect. I did not graduate from the academy, but that does not mean it was not or it is not a good school. I eventually graduated from high school and found my own way. It is important to note that every school has its issues and may not be a good fit for every student. The academy is an alternative school/home for many foster youth unable to thrive with foster families. Yes, there is always room for improvement, and I strongly believe that the academy should be invested in, not abandoned. Reclassifying and reforming the academy will only improve the school’s structure and home environment for current and future foster youth who need an alternative to foster families.
The academy is a good alternative for many foster youth unable to thrive with foster families.