Art Collection Sets the Right Tone : Reseda High Principal Touts Pupil Pride

The halls at Reseda High School are lined with art work, from reproductions of French painter Edouard Manet and American artist Norman Rockwell to centuries-old Chinese and Aztec pottery.

Principal Carol Ogawa thinks that sets the right tone for the education of her ethnically diverse student body.

“It gives students a good sense of pride so they don’t mess things up,” she said. “They’ve got a lot of respect for the art.”

Ogawa, 44, is the first woman of Asian descent to serve as principal of a senior high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Assumed Post in April

In April, she assumed her post as head administrator for Reseda High’s 2,300 students and 275 faculty and staff members. About 600 students are bused from South-Central Los Angeles, although most of the students come from the Reseda area, Ogawa said.

Her father was born in Japan, and her mother, a native of Gardena, was educated in Japan. But she says her ethnic background hasn’t come into play in her 23 years as an educator in Los Angeles.

“Maybe I’m blind if there’s prejudice. I just don’t notice it.”

Ogawa graduated from Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles and earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’sin education from the University of Southern California. She began her career as a math teacher for three junior and senior high schools and later became a student counselor.

Before going to Reseda, she coordinated instructional planning and development for junior high schools in the Los Angeles school district.

More Shop Talk at Home

At the end of the school day, when Ogawa returns to her Rancho Palos Verdes home, the educational shop talk isn’t likely to end. Her husband, Kazuo Ogawa, is the math adviser for the senior high schools division of the Los Angeles school district.

“I think we both kind of unload for a while,” she said. “Sometimes it’s nice to come home to someone who understands what’s going on.”

Ogawa would like to promote the achievements of Reseda High School’s student body, which is about 50% white, with the rest made up of Asians, blacks and Latinos.

“I see a very strong school here. There’s an awful lot of potential and this school hasn’t gotten its fair share of the laurels,” she said.

Specifically, she said, the school has a tradition of special programs that enhance students’ education, such as the artwork displayed in the halls and the school cafeteria.

Collected Art For Years

The school’s art department and faculty association have collected art for several years through private purchases and donations from the public. The school has won widespread recognition for the quality of its photography and architectural drafting departments as well, she said.

But Ogawa stresses that academic basics are her priority.

“I want to see the strengthening of our academic program here. Students are coming around to that view.”

Students at Reseda and other public high schools are finishing their first year under tougher academic standards that raise the number of credits needed to graduate and increase the minimum required course work in such subjects as English and mathematics.

Ogawa said she doesn’t see a contradiction between offering extracurricular programs and strengthening academic performance.

‘You Need a Balance’

“I think you need a fine balance between rigor and choice,” she said. “The kids know there’s a reason for the tightening of the academic requirements. When they go out to the job market they have to be able to read and write.”

Reseda struggles with the same problems plaguing other Los Angeles schools, such as poor attendance, dropouts and disruptive behavior by some students, Ogawa noted, but added, “I really don’t see any major problems.”

“The potential dropout doesn’t need to drop out with all the opportunities in schools,” she said, pointing to programs that give credit for work experience and trade courses that allow some students to attend university and junior college classes.