Freshmen Face Longer School Day

All ninth-graders in Santa Ana will sit through an extra hour of school starting in September to prepare them for the state’s upcoming high school exit exam and ultimately for college.

Starting at 7:15 a.m., freshmen who are behind in their academic skills will take remedial courses in math and English. More proficient students will take regular courses that they can apply to high school graduation.

School officials say the $1.6-million program, which will give the district’s 4,000 freshmen close to eight hours in school, is necessary if Santa Ana teenagers are to meet the district’s new graduation requirements as well as pass the tough new high school exit exam. District and state education officials said Santa Ana is the only district they know of in California to make such a program a requirement.

If the program seems to be succeeding this year, the district will continue it and might add the extra hour for upperclassmen, said Linda Kaminski, the district’s chief academic officer.

About two-thirds of Santa Ana’s students are still learning English, and the district has some of the lowest test scores in the state. Less than 15% of ninth-graders scored above the national average in reading on the Stanford 9 test last spring.

Nevertheless, district officials have put in place some of the most rigorous graduation requirements in the state. And starting in 2004, all seniors must pass the state’s high school exit exam before they can get a diploma.