16 Schools in County Are Honored by State

Sixteen schools in Los Angeles County have been named California Distinguished Schools for 1988.

The local schools were among 124 statewide chosen by the California Department of Education for high performance or significant improvement on California Assessment Program tests and other measures.

The winning schools were compared to others in the state with similar student demographics and judged distinguished by a committee of state and local educators.

The winners were announced by state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig earlier this month. They will be California’s nominees for the National Secondary Schools Recognition Program, conducted by the Department of Education.

This is the third year that distinguished schools have been chosen in California. Elementary schools are honored one year, secondary schools the next.

Ten area high schools are among the 62 California high schools honored this year.

They are Cerritos High School, ABC Unified School District; Beverly Hills High, Beverly Hills Unified School District; Glendora High, Glendora Unified School District; Agoura High, Las Virgenes Unified School District; Granada Hills Senior High, Los Angeles Unified School District; Narbonne High, Los Angeles Unified School District; Schurr High, Montebello Unified School District; Santa Monica High, Santa Monica Unified School District; Redondo High, South Bay Union School District, and South High, Torrance Unified School District.

Six area middle schools were also chosen. They are Malaga Cove Intermediate School, Palos Verdes Peninsula School District; Sierra Vista Junior High, William S. Hart Union School District; Wilson Junior High, Glendale Unified School District; Hull Middle School, Torrance Unified School District; Foothills Junior High, Arcadia Unified School District, and Muir Junior High, Burbank Unified School District.

Representatives of the winning schools will attend a luncheon and awards ceremony June 3 in San Francisco where they will be given distinguished schools flags to fly on their campuses.

Janeane Dimpel, who coordinates the distinguished schools program for Los Angeles County, said the award-winning schools are invaluable models for others seeking to improve.

Because of the program, Dimpel said, the principal of a local school that wants to excel “has someone to speak with, the teachers have people to talk with, they have something to observe.”