High-Tech High : State-of-the-Art School Opens in Frazier Park

One of the most ambitiously high-tech public schools in the state--where every student is to have hands-on training for the digital future--opened Thursday in this little mountain town along the Golden State Freeway.

The only thing missing, for the most part, was the high-tech.

The main building of the long-planned Frazier Mountain High School holds a computer lab, digital research facilities, software library and television studio. But because of construction delays, some of which were caused by heavy rains last winter, that building will not open until later in the year.

“You can imagine how frustrating it is that I can’t get in there,” said Edward Mooney, the technology teacher, standing outside the fenced-off main building that loomed over the smaller classrooms and temporary buildings at the dusty site. One computer-equipped classroom is open on the campus, but the majority of his dream setup is still in the hands of the building contractor.

“We have such wonderful plans,” he said.

The main building, called the InfoCenter, will probably bring widespread attention to this area near the Grapevine in Tejon Pass, which previously made international news only as the spot where one of environmental artist Christo’s giant yellow umbrellas blew over, killing a woman.

The plans call for every student enrolled in the school--located near the point where Los Angeles, Kern and Ventura counties meet, within walking distance of the San Andreas Fault--to eventually have an individual computer. Classroom research will be done not only on the Internet, but in concert with students at other schools through electronic hookups.

But all that is in the future. First, Frazier Mountain High School--the first high school in the El Tejon Unified School District--had to go through the ages-old, low-tech ritual known as the first day of school.

“We are, of course, pioneers,” said school counselor Betty Wickersham, rushing around the offices of the temporary administration building that resembled a large mobile home.

“It’s like the train is finally here, ready to go,” she continued, shuffling through attendance records. Mooney came into her office to give her a quick, reassuring hug.

“Good wishes for the day,” he said.

And then suddenly, the buses were making their way down the long winding road toward the school. Melody Henry, 16, whose family recently moved into the area from Woodland Hills, was not impressed with the mostly concrete buildings of the campus sitting at the foot of scrub-brush-covered Frazier Mountain.

“It looks like a combination of a power plant and prison,” Melody said later, recalling her first impressions. “They need to get some color around here.”

About 350 students came for the first day. Most were from the local area, although some live as far away as the Antelope Valley.

“My dad made me come here,” said Nicole Coleman, 13, of Lancaster, while standing on a walkway near a classroom. “He heard about the school and thought I would get a better education here.”

But she had no complaints.

“I want to do stuff with computers,” she said with excitement. “Creative stuff.”

A few of the school’s cheerleaders, chosen during auditions earlier in the summer, stood nearby, running through the words of a cheer.

Together we can,

and together we will.

We’ve got a goal

that we will fulfill.

There will, however, be no teams practicing on campus for some time. Neither the gym nor the outside practice fields were finished. This did not escape a group of boys who personified the term sullen youth .

“This sucks,” said Brad Newbold, 14, looking over the mostly barren campus. Like many of the students at Frazier Mountain, he had been attending the far larger Bakersfield High School, 40 miles to the north. “There’s nothing to do here,” he said.

“There were a lot more people to meet at BHS,” added Mike Edgar, 15, explaining that the Bakersfield school had nearly 5,000 students.

“This is a small town compared to that,” said Ryan Walker, 15.

Standing apart from them was Chris Long, 17, who had recently moved to the area from Sun Valley. With his close-cropped hair, loose shirt and city-style baggy pants, his look didn’t fit in with the other students, many of whom sported blue jeans, T-shirts and backpacks.

“It’s a new world,” Chris said, looking at his new classmates.

“Where I came from, everyone looked like me. Here, no one looks like me.”

Supt. Gary Fuller, on the scene for the opening, said it was only natural for students to be wary on the first day. “I think they just have to give it a week or two,” he said. “It takes some adjusting, but I think they’ll see there are advantages to having a small, family-like school.”

The teachers, on the other hand, seemed universally delighted at being on board for the debut. Debra Silvera, who came here from Sutter Middle School in Canoga Park, will teach history.

“The kids here are getting a lot of support from their parents,” Silvera said. “The parents’ organization is very active and we had a great turnout for the open house and barbecue we had.”

That was not always the case at the Canoga Park school, she said.

“There were a lot of sweet kids there, too, but some didn’t get the support they needed. I think that has to do with this being a small community. It’s a different feeling.”

Frazier Mountain does not have nearly the racial or cultural diversity of Los Angeles schools, but this didn’t bother one of the handful of African American students, Gerald Yancy, 15.

Gerald had moved to San Francisco, but then returned to go to the new school. “I missed my friends, and up there, there was a lot of problems with crowds, violence,” he said. “I wanted to study computers, and I thought this would be a good place. It would give me a better chance.”

He said that being one of the few nonwhite students might affect his behavior. “I want to be known as someone who does good things,” Gerald said.

“I stand out. If I do something bad, everyone will know who did it.”