Back Bay High organizes its first PTSA after pitch from new principal

Marc Trocchio was surprised to learn the continuation high school he would be leading as principal this year didn’t have an association for parents, teachers and students.

“I was floored,” Trocchio said Friday morning. “That gets parents [and] students involved, even if it’s just one project a year. People can feel good about their campus and what they give back to it. That’s good energy for our students to support them.”

Trocchio, who was hired in July as principal of Back Bay High in Costa Mesa, immediately began researching the support systems offered at the school and pitched the idea of creating a PTSA. The staff was in favor, he said.

Parents also were onboard when the idea was presented during the Back to School Night open house, Trocchio said.

This is the 28th PTA or PTSA among the 32 schools in the Newport-Mesa Unified district, according to Vickie Waldo, president of the Harbor Council PTA, which oversees all of them.

Trocchio said it’s rare for continuation high schools to have such organizations, but he said his mission as the principal is to help Back Bay students perform well and eventually return to comprehensive schools.

Martha Fluor, a longtime Newport-Mesa board member whose trustee area includes Back Bay High, said establishing the PTSA is an additional way to keep parents engaged in their children’s education.

“This is a family affair. It takes a village to raise a child, and we’re here to support what the families go through and their education,” Fluor said.

To join the PTSA at Back Bay High, call (949) 515-6900.

Priscella.Vega@latimes.com

Twitter: @vegapriscella