High Life : A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Aliso Niguel School Will Take Communications to Higher Level

When the new Aliso Niguel High School opens next month, its 1,500 students will be surrounded by communications technology worthy of a “Star Trek” mission.

At the fingertips of students and teachers will be fiber-optics-based information retrieval systems that will be the most sophisticated of any school in the state.

Each classroom in the $25-million school will have computer terminals connected to a central media center. It will enable students to access major databases, laser discs, VCRs and other media without having to move expensive equipment from room to room.

Additional technology will provide students with the opportunity to speak face-to-face with others around the world. Speakers’ presentations can also be taped and replayed to students who were unable to attend--or it can be sent to other schools.

Such an ability to share communications “will enhance the students’ options,” says Principal Denise Danne. “If we offer (Advanced Placement) Latin, but they don’t have it at other schools, they could (use a tape to) get prepared for an AP Latin exam there.”

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The school is financed with state funds, developers’ fees and money from a Mello-Roos tax district.

In its first year, Aliso Niguel will open to freshmen, sophomores and juniors, most of whom attended or would normally have attended either Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo or Dana Hills High School in Dana Point. The mascot for the new school is the Wolverine.

Seniors will stay at their previous high school next year, Danne said, and students who are new to the area will have the option of attending the new high school or the one nearest to their home.

Danne, formerly an assistant principal at Santa Monica High School, chose to come to Aliso Niguel in part because of its high-tech orientation. She has studied the sophisticated information systems in use at high schools in Indiana, Michigan and Illinois.

Most of the teachers she has hired have some sort of Macintosh or personal computer experience, Danne said. A technician will conduct in-house training sessions for the faculty on the new systems, which are being installed by Dynacom Inc./AEI Music Inc., an Indiana-based company.

“We will make (the students) academically and technologically prepared for the world,” said Mary Anne Everett, an assistant principal, in describing the school’s dual mission.

In addition to offering the general high school education, Aliso Niguel will feature five “career pathways” in a system similar to that undertaken by college students working toward a major. The pathways are culinary arts, humanities, computer-assisted drafting, electronics and video production.

The idea behind the pathways is to give students schoolwork that is relevant to their own interests, said Dennis Collier, another assistant principal.

Aliso Niguel High will serve as the computer repair facility for the entire Capistrano Unified School District, allowing students in the electronics pathway to learn hands-on techniques in servicing equipment. The culinary arts pathway will include a student-run restaurant open to the community.

Like in college, students will first take basic courses in their pathway. In their junior and senior years, students will take two elective courses. Beginning courses in some pathways will be available at Aliso Viejo Middle School, also opening in September.

Much of the technological assistance has come through partnerships with local businesses, including Southern California Edison and the Mission Viejo Co. Apple Computers has donated equipment for a media access system and computer-assisted drafting, and Dimension Cable will help provide a communications link between Aliso Niguel and other schools, especially Aliso Viejo Middle School.

The technology has lured both players and coaches to the sports program, which will begin using Capistrano Valley High School’s gym until construction is finished on the Wolverine facility in November.

Aliso Niguel will begin with a majority of sports at the varsity level, although the varsity football program will be delayed a year. The school will become a member of the South Coast League.

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Freshman Cory Fross, 14, who is enrolling in the football program, gave high marks to the new school. Fross said he chose to attend Aliso Niguel instead of Dana Hills because Aliso Niguel “is a better school--the best in California. There’s more computerized technology.”

“It’s exciting to start something new and see it grow,” said Joe Wood, head football coach. “It’s a brand-new situation.”

Unlike some county high schools such as Troy and Los Alamitos, Aliso Niguel does have not a magnet program, so students from other districts may not transfer to the school.

The opportunity to attend a spanking-new school is an attraction to freshman Bruce Carlisle Jr., 14.

“There are new teachers and a new attitude,” he said. “Instead of having an old school everyone’s going to be doing something new and different.”