17 Orange County Schools Named to State Level of U.S. Competition

Orange County’s secondary schools are on a roll.

A week after the county’s schools received generally high grades on new state-issued “report cards,” state education officials Tuesday disclosed that, based on population, a disproportionately high number of its high schools and junior high schools will participate in a national competition to honor “exemplary schools.”

The county had 17 high schools and junior highs among the 84 that were chosen statewide for the first round of the U.S. Department of Education-sponsored competition, the National Secondary School Recognition Program.

Between 150 and 200 schools eventually will receive national honors.

After the initial phase of the competition, California will choose 10 high schools and 10 junior highs to compete with other schools across the country.

Orange County, which has about 8% of California’s population, had 20% of the “exemplary” high schools and junior highs chosen by the state for the competition.

At the high school level, Orange County did particularly well. Los Angeles County--almost four times larger in population--had only three of the high schools a state selection panel named “exemplary,” while Orange County had seven. Of the junior highs picked by the state for the competition, Los Angeles County had 11 and Orange County had 10.

The 17 schools will compete with 67 others in California for 20 nominations from the state.

Robert Peterson, Orange County superintendent of education, said Tuesday he is “delighted” with the county’s showing. “We’re doing twice as well as one would suppose, based on population,” he said.

Peterson said he is especially pleased that some of the schools chosen include those in county areas with large immigrant populations. “This should really make us intensify our efforts,” Peterson said. “And, it shows that the melting-pot theory, upon which America is based, is still at work.”

Schools chosen for the competition, according to state and national education officials, are those judged “unusually successful in meeting the educational needs of all their students.” The selected schools, officials said, include some “that have overcome obstacles and problems and that are continuing to concentrate on improvement.”

Some of the nominees in Santa Ana and Garden Grove, both of which have large immigrant populations, are among the schools considered to have done well at solving unusual problems, officials said.

The new Performance Reports for California Schools, made public last week, are state Superintendent of Public Instruction Bill Honig’s “report cards” on the high schools and junior highs. The reports show a variety of test and statistical data from the schools, including average scores on Scholastic Aptitude Tests, percentage of students scoring high on Advanced Placement tests, and scores on California Assessment Program tests.

Schools had to agree to compete, and not all schools in the state participated in the contest, officials said.

Kathryn Crossley, a program analyst for the U.S. Department of Education, said in Washington on Tuesday that no set number of high schools and junior highs are picked for national honors.

“The first year (of the national competition), in the 1982-83 school year, we had 152 schools, and in the second year--1983-84--we had 202 schools that were picked,” said Crossley. She said that indicates about 150 to 200 schools will be honored at the national level this year.

Schools that win at the national level receive a plaque, given at a local ceremony, and a special banner, presented in Washington. President Reagan took part in the first two awards ceremonies and is expected to take part again this year, Crossley said.

So far, just one Orange County school has won an award at the national level. In the 1982-83 competition, Venado Middle School, in the Irvine Unified School District, was chosen by the U.S. Department of Education as one of its 152 “model” schools that year.

School Honors These 17 Orange County high schools, junior highs and intermediate schools were among 84 chosen statewide as part of the National Secondary School Recognition Program: Anaheim High...............Anaheim Union High School District Loara High.................Anaheim Union High School District La Quinta High..................Garden Grove Unified District Pacific High....................Garden Grove Unified District Marina High.............Huntington Beach High School District Corona del Mar High.............Newport-Mesa Unified District Saddleback High....................Santa Ana Unified District Orangeview Junior High..........................Anaheim Union Sycamore Junior High............................Anaheim Union Buena Park Junior High.............Buena Park School District Alamitos Intermediate....................Garden Grove Unified Bell Intermediate........................Garden Grove Unified Stephen Fitz Intermediate................Garden Grove Unified Washington Middle....................La Habra School District Douglas MacArthur Intermediate..............Santa Ana Unified Willard Intermediate........................Santa Ana Unified Stacey Intermediate...............Westminster School District