Schools Hail Their National Honors With Smiles, Celebrations

Students and faculty at three Orange County schools newly crowned with national honors had low-key celebrations Thursday and lots of smiles about their achievements.

The three Orange County “model schools” picked for national honors this year are Woodbridge and University high schools in Irvine and Parks Junior High in Fullerton.

The three were among 271 public and private schools in the nation named Wednesday as national winners in the annual National Secondary Schools Recognition Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.

“This is very neat,” said Kim Mitchell, a 14-year-old freshman at University High. “I’m a cheerleader, and this is the sort of thing that really gives us school spirit.”

Dual Winners

Irvine Unified School District officials were particularly pleased Thursday because their school system was the only one in California having dual winners. “We are delighted,” said A. Stanley Corey, superintendent of Irvine Unified School District.

“These are really exceptional high schools. They’ve succeeded because they have teachers, administrators and staff that have their act together. The people who judged the schools were very comprehensive, checking everything you can think of: organization, operation, parent involvement, dropout rate, you name it.”

In the Fullerton (Elementary) School District, some officials said they were disappointed that initial news reports ignored the junior high winners in the National Secondary Schools Recognition Program.

Parks Junior High Principal LeNelle Cittadin said, “We’re the only junior high in Orange County to get the honor, so understandably we’re very proud.”

“I used the intercom to let the students know about it Wednesday after I was notified. They were very happy, but I don’t think very many of them understand the significance of it. . . . When a photographer came out from the newspaper at noon today, the students really like that, and I think that made a big impression.”

Prestige of Winning

The recognition brings no extra money to the winning schools, but the prestige of being selected is significant, education officials agree. A ceremony in Washington in September will honor representatives of the winning schools, who come to the event at their own expense. Each winning school gets a special banner to display.

To win at the federal level, schools must be nominated by the state Department of Education. This year, that department nominated Huntington Beach High and Newport Harbor High, in addition to the other three Orange County schools that eventually became national winners.

A separate, but similar, federal program selects outstanding elementary schools.

Previous national high school and elementary school winners from Orange County are Venado Middle School in Irvine; Marina High in Huntington Beach; Corona del Mar High and Harbor View School, both in Newport Beach; O’Neill Elementary in Mission Viejo, and Greenville Fundamental School in Santa Ana.

Irvine’s dual-winning high schools are about 4 1/2 miles apart. “The two schools have a lot of similarities,” Corey said.

Woodbridge High has about 1,450 students, compared to University High’s 2,300 students. “The two schools have a lot in common--including staff, including me, because I used to be at University High,” said Woodbridge Principal Greg Cops.

Cops also noted that Woodbridge was carved from part of University High’s old attendance area when Woodbridge opened in 1980.

“We compete all out against each other in sports, but we have good feelings about each other,” Cops said. “For instance, when our basketball team was in the state tournament, the ASB (student government) at University High gave $100 to help pay the expenses of our team. Now that says a lot, and it meant a lot to us.”

‘Great Year’

This year, Woodbridge won the boys’ state basketball championship for its size classification. “It’s been a great year for us,” said Christine Beckman, 18, a senior at Woodbridge.

Robert Bruce, principal at University High, said the national award came on his birthday “and it’s been a nice birthday present.” He proudly wore a pin that said he loved University High, and, as he stood outside his school, students happily chatted beside a big sign that noted the school’s new honor.

Eric Carlson, a 15-year-old University High freshman, said the school’s honor even has a practical value to him and other students: “It might help us when we apply for colleges later on.”