Yorba Middle School is a part of the California GRIP collaborative. GRIP is a Gang Prevention Partnership that consists of representatives from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, CSP, Social Services, the Orange Police Department, private business and nonprofit organizations. This is done in collaboration with Yorba Middle School administration, teachers and families.
The GRIP team has intervened with students who have been identified as being at-risk academically or at-risk of joining a criminal street gang. At Yorba Middle School, we emphasize the importance of attendance and reducing truancies. Attendance is the primary factor in predicting the success of students. The GRIP partners initiated a teacher/student mentor program which involves approximately 20 students being paired with a YMS mentor. A parent greeter and neighborhood watch program has been implemented and consists of parent volunteers. The Yorba Middle School GRIP program is founded on incentive-based challenges that are geared at improving certain behaviors. We have instituted the Turkey Challenge, the Chivas Challenge, the Chick-Fil-A lunches and the Angel incentive. The Orange County GRIP Committees have brought in over 3 million dollars in grant money and donations to the Orange County GRIP Program. The 2008-2009 Orange County Grand Jury completed a study on the GRIP program and concluded in their report that the GRIP Program is one of the most successful Gang Prevention Programs in the State of California. At Yorba Middle School the GRIP program has supported some of our most at-risk students and has seriously changed lives for the better.