New School Provides a College Opportunity for Underachievers

Typically, a high school student earns admittance to college through enthusiasm and good grades. But this fall, poor motivation and uneven grades will be the ticket to college for about 50 high school sophomores from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

In only the third such link-up in the state, Orange Coast College and the local school district will open a full-time alternative school designed to help underachieving students live up to their academic potential.

Located at OCC, Orange Coast Middle College High School will offer students the opportunity to graduate from high school and to rack up college credits at the same time. Educators believe transplanting talented but lackluster students to a college campus will foster a newfound drive for learning, or at a minimum, prevent them from dropping out of school.

“The group we are after [is] the kids that have shown potential, but are bored in high school,” said Lesley Danziger, an OCC English professor coordinating the project. “These kids have a lot to offer. All they need is a slightly different environment to motivate them.”

Similar programs at two other California community colleges have boasted impressive results. At a middle college high school program at Los Angeles Southwest College, only one of 84 students failed to graduate, and 76 moved on to a post-secondary school in 1994.

One in five of about 80 seniors at Contra Costa Middle College High School in San Pablo thought to be at risk of dropping out of high school have won admittance to a University of California campus.

“They become more motivated here because they see the college people rather than the example set by some at their high schools,” said Myra Silverman, principal of the Contra Costa Middle College High School, which was founded seven years ago. “Many of our students would have dropped out . . . if they attended a traditional high school.”

Nationally, there are about 20 middle college high school programs, the first of which was founded at LaGuardia Community College in New York City in 1974. Virtually all of the programs have waiting lists of prospective students.

The programs’ success attracted the interest of Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles), a former Los Angeles Community College trustee. In February, Knox introduced a bill to pave the way for state funding to bolster the current programs and to develop dozens more across the state.

The Assembly Higher Education Committee is scheduled to discuss the proposal Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Orange County program will be funded through a $160,000 grant to cover first-year start-up costs. The grant from the California Community College chancellor’s office will be renewed for the next two years. After that, educators say traditional school funding based upon average daily attendance should support the schools.

Officials with OCC and the Newport-Mesa district are still selecting students for the pilot program, which is voluntary. Students from Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa, Estancia and Newport Harbor high schools are eligible, along with those from Newport-Mesa alternative schools.

The program will eventually be expanded to about 180 students and will include high school juniors and seniors. Although sophomores will be mostly confined to physical education and study skill classes, upperclassmen will be able to enroll in college classes taught by professors.

“It’s conceivable that a very motivated student could pick up a high school diploma and an A.A. degree at the same time at his or her graduation,” said Tom Baldwin, a history and economics teacher at Costa Mesa High School who is the school’s recruiting coordinator.

If qualified, students will be able to enroll in basic college courses in math, science and humanities. But specialized or vocational instruction, such as fine arts and auto shop, are expected to be popular with the high schools students.

“The K-12 system has taken such a beating in terms of cutting out electives,” said Danziger, who taught at Mission Viejo High School for 15 years. “Maybe these are the kids the high school just hasn’t been able to turn on, but [who] will find what they want at a community college.”

Educators admit the program could overwhelm some students, both academically and socially, thus guaranteeing a premature departure from school.

The program also might prevent some students from participating in high school athletics and popular school events such as the prom, Danziger said.

“You do lose the social life of a big high school,” she added. “But in view of the potential gains, it seems worth the risks.”