4 County Schools Rated as National ‘Models of Excellence’

Four Orange County elementary schools are among 230 in the nation named Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education as national model schools.

The Orange County winners of the 1988 National Elementary School Recognition Awards are Andersen School in Newport Beach, part of Newport-Mesa Unified School District; Del Cerro School in Mission Viejo, part of Saddleback Valley Unified School District; El Morro School in Laguna Beach, part of Laguna Beach Unified School District, and West Orange School in Orange, part of Orange Unified School District.

The federal department is expected to formally announce all the winners Thursday. The four winners in Orange County received notification Tuesday morning.

Representatives of the winning schools will be honored in ceremonies at the White House in September, federal officials said. The schools will receive a special “national recognition” flag and plaque. President Reagan usually takes part in the awards ceremonies, which are coordinated by Secretary of Education William Bennett.

The Department of Education has said the award-winning schools are “national models of excellence” and are thus institutions with programs that other schools can learn from.

To be eligible for the national awards, schools must be nominated by their respective state education superintendents. California’s Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig in January nominated 47 elementary schools in the state, including five in Orange County, for the prestigious award. The fifth Orange County school that was nominated this year was Sunkist School in Anaheim, part of Anaheim City School District.

State officials in Sacramento said Tuesday they could not divulge how many California schools won the award this year because of a federal embargo on the release date,

Bruce Crockard, principal at Andersen School, confirmed that the school had been notified of winning on Tuesday morning. “I announced it to the students right away,” he said. “We’re extremely proud and pleased that a community and staff working so hard for children has received this kind of recognition.”

James R. Barton, principal of West Orange School, said, “We’re real pleased; we’re thrilled. We represent a downtown school, one of the older schools, and we have about 22% of our students who are with limited-English proficiency. We work with our students. We believe that you get from a child according to the expectations you place, and we place high expectations.”

Gwen Gross, principal of El Morro School, could not be immediately reached for comment. Laguna Beach Unified Supt. Dennis Smith confirmed the school had won the national award. “I am really pleased because this is certainly an outstanding school, and the credit must go to the teachers, the support staff, the parents and the community.”

Chuck Prince, principal of Del Cerro School, also could not be reached for comment, but school district officials confirmed the school had been notified of its national award.