Renowned college expert Anne Cochran will be the featured guest speaker Aug. 25 as SCVi Charter School hosts a free college planning night for students and their parents.

“We’re honored to be able to feature such a widely respected, award-winning speaker as Anne Cochran,” said Matt Watson, SCVi’s upper school director. “Her insight and expertise will prove valuable to parents and students alike, not only in terms of what it takes to succeed in college but also in terms of what it takes to find the right college experience to suit each individual student.”

The college planning event is free and open to the public. It starts 6 p.m. Aug. 25 in the Shakespeare Theatre at SCVi, founding campus of iLEAD Schools, located at 28060 Hasley Canyon Road, Castaic, in the Hasley Canyon Commerce Center. RSVPs are appreciated, either via email to sara.brown@scvi-k12.org or via Facebook at: www.facebook.com/events/509850279181446/

Cochran is a past San Fernando Valley Business Journal Women in Business Award nominee and is a frequent speaker at professional college conferences, including the College Board’s Destination Equity 2014 Conference. She recently addressed the Western Association of College Admission Counseling, as well as the International Education Consultants Association. She is the recipient of the 2012 Yale Educator Award, 2012 Colleges That Change Lives Counselor Award, the 2012 Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Educator of Distinction Award, and CHAMPS 2013 Educator of the Year Award. She also has served as the in-house college blogger for KTTV’s MyFOXLA Parents.

She believes college is a vital tool for achieving happiness and success — and that there are viable four-year college choices for learners of every ability, interest, socioeconomic and achievement level.

After experiencing her own two children receiving results-oriented, school-based college counseling at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, she realized her life’s mission is to bring those lessons to teenagers who would otherwise never receive equivalent guidance, but in ways that effectively communicate to them, no matter what learning challenges or socioeconomic or cultural barriers exist.

Additional information is available by calling (661) 705-4820.

SCVi offers project-based K-12 curriculum and student-led assessment with global and culturally diverse influences. The tuition-free charter school emphasizes an inquiry-based, learner-centered approach to education. SCVi’s primary goal is to help learners lead a successful and fulfilled life while contributing to the world around them. More information about SCVi and iLEAD Schools is available at
www.ileadschools.org.