180 Days of Learning : BUENA PARK

Students at Buena Park Junior High will all resemble each other a bit this fall, when a new school uniform policy kicks in.

After 1 1/2 years of meetings, surveys and debate on the issue, school administrators and parents decided that uniforms help cut down on classroom distractions.

“They’re looking at creating the best learning environment for the kids,” Supt. Carol Riley said. “They’re hoping uniforms will make that happen. They want to focus on learning.”

Riley said the new policy won strong support from parents and many of the students as well.

Across the district, the six elementary schools and the junior high will be focusing on literacy and reading this year.

The district develops a theme annually for all the schools. This year, Riley said, it’s “Read--It’s Magic.”

That topic was chosen in part to take advantage of smaller class sizes for kindergartners, first-graders and second-graders. Under the state-sponsored plan, none of the teachers in those grades will have more than 20 students this fall.

“It will be a different way of learning reading,” Riley said. “There is an opportunity for the teacher to spend more time individually with the child and to really identify where a child is and what needs to be done for that child to be moving along.”