Noisy New Neighbor Shows Up on Block : Community: A private school upsets a Santa Ana neighborhood with what residents say is a constant din. Owners say they are responding to complaints.

Two weeks into her retirement, at 7:45 a.m. sharp, Frances Anderson was awakened by the shriek of whistles. It was time for classes at Oak Ridge Private School, and teachers were rounding up students from the playground.

“It was like waking up to an Army call,” Anderson said.

The private elementary school on North Grand Avenue opened in September, but it has quickly gained a reputation as the most nettlesome neighbor on the quiet, mostly residential block.

Although school officials have since ordered teachers to stop blowing their whistles, neighbors say the school, which has 300 students who pay up to $3,400 a year, is still a source of constant noise and alley traffic.

Anderson, a 62-year-old retired Orange Police Department employee, told the Santa Ana City Council on Monday night that if she doesn’t get any relief from the school soon, she plans to give up the home she has owned for more than 23 years.

“I feel like an old witch for complaining, but it’s driving me crazy,” Anderson said.

The city’s reaction was swift. Mayor Daniel H. Young, who grew up in the neighborhood, has promised that Santa Ana will help.

“This is simply a case of somebody not knowing how to be a good neighbor,” Young said.

But the school’s owners, Patricia and Frederick Burry, said they have “bent over backwards” to respond to neighbors’ complaints about excessive noise and trash.

“We try to be a good neighbor,” Frederick Burry said. “We’ve taken the whistles away a month ago, and we’ve tried to keep an amiable relationship. We know we’ve got to be a part of the community.”

He added that the school has also stopped using its public address system except in cases of emergency. But he admits that there has been noise during recess and physical education classes.

“Children are children, and there is going to be some noise,” Burry said.

While Anderson agrees that there have been some improvements, she asserts that the Burrys aren’t doing enough.

“They behave very nicely and say they’ll take care of it, but then they turn around and do exactly what they want,” Anderson said.

Established in 1980, Oak Ridge has had three homes. Its second home, which it occupied from 1983 until September, 1990, was at Katella Elementary School in Orange. The Burrys’ lease was terminated because the Orange Unified School District wanted to reopen the site as a public school.

Last November, Toastmasters sold its former world headquarters to the Burrys for $2.7 million, and, with the city’s permission, they moved the school to the North Grand Avenue site. Before granting permission, city officials asked the Burrys to add fire-retardant doors and other safety measures. City Manager David Ream said the city requests were initially met with resistance before school officials finally complied.

“The Oak Ridge school has been very difficult to deal with during the entire process of converting the Toastmasters building,” Ream said. “It continues to be a major problem for the city since it opened its doors.”

While the opening of the school on Sept. 17 signaled a dream come true for the Burrys, it has been a nightmare for Anderson.

“I’m madder than hell,” Anderson said. “I retired so I could have peace and quiet and work in my garden. Now I’ve lost all incentive.”

She said she has put in a bid on some property in Marin County and says she plans to move there if things don’t improve.

“I don’t want to move,” Anderson said. “I love my house and have invested a lot of money into it. I just want to have my neighborhood back.”

Anderson isn’t alone in her displeasure. She has collected the signatures of 25 neighbors who also are unhappy with the situation.

Cyndy Thornley, 33, is home weekdays with three toddlers. She said she signed the petition because she has had trouble putting her children down for naps since the school opened.

“My whole back yard is just filled with the noise of screaming schoolchildren,” Thornley said. “I believe my property value has decreased because of the noise. Anybody would be bothered.”

But Patricia Burry said she and her husband, married for 26 years, are proud of the school and want to remain in the community for a long time.

“We have a good school, and we want to bring quality educational programs to the area. We wouldn’t have so many families follow us from our other locations if we weren’t a good school,” she said. “I’m happy to be here, and I think everyone will eventually realize that we are an asset to the community.”

Ream said the city still wants the school to stay despite the complaints.

“We welcome it in the city,” Ream said. “But they just have to be good neighbors.”