Chad Orcutt originally wanted the “neglected, old, dilapidated building” in Oak Park to be a roller rink when he first leased it in September 2021. Reality won out, however, and the Community Shop Class, a hands-on, inclusive learning environment for neurodivergent and underserved communities, was born. 

“Celebrating the five-year anniversary of shop class today; this is amazing!” Orcutt tells the dozens of students, employees, supporters, and volunteers who turned out during the Aug. 30 party at the 3818 Stockton Boulevard location to applaud the milestone. “We shouldn’t be here. This was a dumb idea, and it was a prototype that I thought would fail in the first two years.”

Dumb idea or not, Orcutt left a 13-year career at Apple to seek an undetermined vision, then signed a lease five years ago for the building that formerly housed a motorcycle club, line dancing group and Mexican restaurant. After figuring out the astronomical cost of a roller rink, he changed plans and, after nine months of renovation, it became the nonprofit Community Shop Class with the goal of helping kids just like himself with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In the process, however, Orcutt says, while trying to thrive in the rough environment along Stockton Boulevard, he gave out food to the neighborhood on Thanksgiving, started the Fix-it Café and loaned out tools while teaching thousands of students the basics of how to build tiny homes and tackle projects from simple DIY tasks to more complex jobs. 

“Growing up, I was a non-reader and impacted by ADHD pretty severely,” he says. “And school sucked for me until I got into high school, where we had a ton of shop classes. Here, I wanted to see if I could build a type of learning center that works for kids with ADHD.

“That was my entire intent when I got started — I wanted to get a bunch of ADHD kids and tell them they were good and tell them I was going to help them build s—.”

Orcutt, who lives in Oak Park, says they faced a major crisis earlier this year when drug dealers moved into the block and started to intimidate them, with one even pinning assistant manager Allison “AJ” Rossell up against a table before others intervened. Orcutt says they increased security and began hiring armed guards for events.

“Are you kidding me?” Orcutt says, thanking Rossell for all of her help. “We were finished, but we stuck it out. (Councilmember) Caity Maple’s office (and) the mayor’s office helped us. We got some private security, and finally, we got them off our block. We stood up to them. We had to because we wanted to save this spot, and this building was too important.”

Maples’ office credits Orcutt and businesses like Shop Class with helping revitalize key Sacramento neighborhoods like Oak Park.

“Community Shop Class is a critical gathering space and community conduit, where people can find help, connection, and purpose,” Councilmember Caity Maple, whose district represents Oak Park, said in a statement. (Maple is currently on maternity leave.) “Places like this are exactly why we need to keep investing in Stockton Boulevard and neighborhoods that have gone far too long without the attention and resources they deserve.”

Five years after signing that lease, while vestiges of the original “shop class” idea remain, the original concept admittedly failed, Orcutt says, as he grew tired of chasing the many grants needed to stay afloat. But as he moves into a new direction, the space endures, and he credits numerous benefactors, including the “big four” — Wendy Abrams and her Eleven Eleven Foundation, Sierra Service Project, SMUD, and California Volunteers. 

The next phase, or Shop Class 3.0 as he calls it, will be “education enhancement” programs for homeschooled and charter school students. There will also be clubs geared towards builders, entrepreneurs, innovators, arts, and drama, while continuing to run a program manufacturing tiny homes. 

“I think that making it on Stockton Boulevard is a totally different animal than people who do business in other areas,” Orcutt says. “I couldn’t be more proud that we survived this.”

Leslie Gandy says she followed Community Shop Class on social media for about a year and “loved everything they were doing” before volunteering.

“I came to the shop and I dove all in,” she says at the anniversary party, calling herself a do-it-all “utility infielder. 

“I love the mission and I was here as one of the volunteers for the summer camps this summer,” Gandy says. “I love the community aspect of shop class, and I love the primary mission of giving neurodivergent kids a place where they can shine and learn in a way that works for them.”

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