6 Area Secondary Schools Go to Head of Their Class

Four Ventura County high schools and two intermediate schools are among 181 secondary schools across the state that have been named California Distinguished Schools this year--the top honor given by the state’s Department of Education.

Westlake, Moorpark, Simi Valley and Adolfo Camarillo high schools along with Oxnard’s Robert J. Frank Intermediate and Sequoia Intermediate in Newbury Park were recognized this week for the award by Delaine Eastin, state superintendent of schools.

“This is our very first one but we’re looking forward to more,” said Simi Valley Supt. Mary Beth Wolford.

The achievement was especially noteworthy, she said, because Simi Valley High School students and teachers have had to deal with rebuilding their school damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

“One of the good spinoffs of the recovery was the bonding that occurred,” she said. “Everybody united to make it a better school.”

Pete Nichols, principal at Robert J. Frank Intermediate in Oxnard, said the award helped vindicate efforts of the community that passed a bond measure to build his 1 1/2-year-old school.

“We’re the very first Distinguished School in the district’s history,” Nichols said. “I think everybody is puffing out their chests a bit.”

The team that evaluated the school said Frank Intermediate was a “breath of fresh air in public schools in California.”

“We have a lot to be proud of,” Nichols added.

When the state Department of Education launched the distinguished-school program in 1985, it awarded the honor mainly on the basis of students’ scores on statewide assessment tests. Now the department not only looks at test scores, but evaluates such things as dropout rates, community involvement, the campus environment and how schools use technology.

Each school that received the award had to complete a 15-page application and undergo a daylong inspection by a state team. The Department of Education sifted through applications from many of the more than 850 high schools and 1,500 middle schools statewide.

This year’s honorees join 56 other schools in Ventura County that have been recognized for excellence in the last 10 years. The competition alternates each year between elementary and secondary schools.

Last year, nine Ventura County elementary schools were selected.

Sequoia Intermediate and Adolfo Camarillo High School have each received an award in past years.

Fred Van Leuven, director of secondary education for the Conejo Valley School District overseeing Sequoia and Westlake High School, said the award just reinforces what parents, students and teachers already know about the district’s schools.

“We have excellent schools here and this is just an outside source that validates the work we’re doing here,” Van Leuven said.

A formal awards ceremony is scheduled for May 24 at the San Diego Convention Center. Representatives from each Distinguished School will be presented with a plaque and a Distinguished School flag by state Supt. Eastin.