TUSTIN : New Grade School Is Named for Locale

The first elementary school to be built in Tustin Ranch has a name: Tustin Ranch Elementary School.

After reviewing 14 names suggested by the community, trustees of the Tustin Unified School District settled Monday on the simple and practical, with the school carrying the name of the community.

Rejected were such names as El Rancho, Stagecoach, Rancho Lomas de Santiago, Helen Keller, John Stanton (Tustin’s first police chief) and Beverly Jean Dukette (a teacher who recently died).

But the choice was not unanimous.

School board President Jane Bauer wanted the school named after Helen Keller, the famous advocate for the deaf and the blind who overcame her own disabilities to become a renowned author and educator.

Trustee Todd Ferguson voted for Rancho Lomas de Santiago, the colonial name of a site half a mile from the current school where the stagecoach used to stop during the drive west in the 1800s.

“It’s very appropriate,” said Trustee Gail Michelsen of the name selected. “It’s the first school (in Tustin Ranch), and the people are very proud of their community.”

The school at Keller and Robinson drives will open in the fall with about 600 students from kindergarten to fifth grade.

Registration began Wednesday in the community room of the Ralphs grocery store at 13321 Jamboree Road. Parents may register their children from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.