In its first year, King-Chavez High School (KCHS) is giving local high school students a different option downtown. The public charter school opened its doors to ninth-graders in August. “We seek excellence in arts, academics and athletics through the foundation of love,” said KCHS principal Jeb Hubbs. “It’s all based on love – we love what we do, we love our students and we really believe that love makes the world go round.” KCHS is the seventh school in the King-Chavez family, which opened its first school in 2000. As more and more students passed through the ranks of the King-Chavez schools, a high school became necessary. “We really believe in what we’re doing and we didn’t want to turn our kids out to high schools that didn’t necessarily follow the same mission that we have,” Hubbs said. The high school currently has 210 students in its freshman class. Each year it will add a grade until it becomes a full high school in 2013. “We wanted to give our kids an opportunity to stay in the school system and continue on through high school,” Hubbs said. KCHS is a dual-outcome school, with the aim of preparing students for both college and career. This means that in addition to taking required college prep courses, students are also required to take an internship as juniors and seniors to give them real-life experience prior to graduation. “We want a well-rounded student. We want these kids to have the knowledge to go to college and skills to be able to find employment,” Hubbs said. “We know that in the demographic of kids that we’re working with that some kids need to find work now. We need to prepare them for everything they need after they graduate high school.” Two things set KCHS apart from its local high school counterparts – size and schedule. Hubbs said when the high school becomes all four grades it will have 800 students, and the school has a class schedule from 8:45 a.m. to 4:05 p.m., one thought to mimic the career workday. KCHS is currently enrolling students from around the county for ninth and 10th grades. Though the school is free, an application process is necessary for enrollment. “We always welcome people to come on down and check us out,” Hubbs said. King-Chavez High School is located at 201 A St. For more information, visit www.kingchavez.net or call (619) 704-1020.