Youngsters Suited Up for School

Adam Hughes is only 5, but he’s doing his best to act older.

“I’ll do OK,” the prospective kindergartner said about his upcoming first day at Cordillera Elementary School here.

With the confidence of a pupil who has already faced first-day-of-school jitters, Adam described the bright blue-and-black school clothes he selected last weekend shopping with his mother.

There are the neon-colored T-shirts to wear with his jeans, sneakers, a backpack, a lunch box, folders and pencils--all in neons, of course.

“He’s looking forward to it,” said his mother, Kelly Hughes. “He can hardly wait.”

If Adam is excited, so are the adults--the parents, teachers and even some of the older high school students who are veterans at handling the back-to-school season. Forget last year’s below-average grades, lost high school football games, late car pools and other disappointments. Many are ready for a clean start.

The spit and polish is being applied to almost 500 schools across Orange County, which will play host to an expected 360,000 kindergarten-through-high school students who will begin classes as early as next week.

Some schools, including those in the Orange Unified and Buena Park districts, begin classes Tuesday. Others, including Santa Ana Unified, Newport-Mesa Unified and most elementary school districts, will start Sept. 10.

While most schools are expecting about the same or slightly higher enrollment, Santa Ana Unified School District spokeswoman Diane M. Thomas said that her district will continue its 10-year trend of enrollment increases of 1,000 to 2,000 students yearly.

A larger enrollment is also expected at Garden Grove Unified School District, reversing a downward trend, spokesman Alan Trudell said.

“After a 20-year decline, our enrollment increased this year,” he said, adding that 659 more students are expected this year over last year’s total of 36,725.

In the Placentia Unified District, 14 temporary buildings are in place for the new Bryant Ranch Elementary School, where 350 Yorba Linda pupils will attend classes until the permanent facility is built and opened next year. The school is being built because the pupil population is expanding, a school official said.

Throughout the county, other schools, teachers, students and parents are also preparing for the first day of classes.

Workers at Garden Grove Unified’s bus barn have been washing the 87 buses before classes begin. The district claims to own the largest fleet of school buses in the county.

In addition to decorating her classroom for special-needs pupils at Helen Estock Elementary School in Tustin, teacher Sandy Banis was on the telephone with a computer vendor, trying to find out whether she will have her computer printer in operation before school begins.

“I enjoy my summers,” said Banis, who is starting her 14th year of teaching, “but it’s nice to get back to school and see all the growth and changes in the kids.”

Jane Coffee of Mission Viejo has also been preparing her youngest daughter, Katherine, for kindergarten.

Although Katherine tends to be shy at first, her mother said, she has seen her older sister go through a few years of school and is now ready to try it herself.

“I don’t think she will have a problem,” Coffee said. “I may have a problem. She’s my little girl.”

While not too particular about her new school wardrobe, Coffee’s daughter was adamant about one thing.

“She had to have tight jeans,” Hughes said. “Form-fitting and not baggy.”

As a gardener manicured the lawn at Santa Ana High School this week, dance team members joined the band and flag corps on the practice field. This will be the first year the dance team performs with the band during football halftimes.

The marching units were a little slow in responding to the drill commands issued by band camp instructor Mark Petrash, a Cal State Fullerton music major.

“C’mon guys. Saddleback’s a lot faster than you guys,” he said, hoping to inspire a competitive spirit.

Among the more enthusiastic band members was Lori Hansen, a sophomore in the clarinet section, who is happy to see her summer job as a receptionist come to an end.

“I worked all summer. Getting back to school will be a rest,” she said.

But not all students are as enthusiastic.

“Nobody is ever ready for school,” sophomore Jackie Guzman said. “I think the summer is too short.”

Guzman’s T-shirt was emblazoned with cartoon character Bart Simpson--a character that clearly remains popular in the school supplies market, despite concerns of some teachers who complained last year that the rebellious cartoon character is not a positive influence on students.

One Fullerton store manager said folders and notebooks decorated with Bart Simpson, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the New Kids on the Block rock band are the most popular.

“It hasn’t been much different from last year,” K mart store Manager Steve Crossen said. “The only thing abnormal is all the Bart Simpson stuff.”

What is new is a fashion style that is old.

“I think the kids are really going toward the look that’s more ‘60s-ish,” said Renee Bowman, assistant manager at a ClothesTime store in Orange.

That look includes more cottons instead of suede and leather, feminine lacy tops for girls and solid, bright colors instead of prints.

“And jeans, once again,” she said.

For a new kid on the block, Adam Hughes apparently knew the current fashion trend when he picked his new school wardrobe.

Times staff writer Lucy Chabot also contributed to this report.