6 Ventura County Campuses Join Elite

Six Ventura County elementary schools -- five in the east county -- were recognized Wednesday by the state schools chief as California Distinguished Schools.

This year, 302 schools statewide received the honor out of 912 that applied to the state superintendent of public instruction. Only about a third of California’s 5,500 elementary schools were eligible for the designation based on their total performance, including test scores, leadership and community involvement.

Three first-time winners, Flory in Moorpark, Mupu in Santa Paula and Madera in Simi Valley, joined past winners Hollow Hills Fundamental in Simi Valley, and Manzanita and Walnut schools in Thousand Oaks.

Rebecca Wetzel, director of elementary education for Simi Valley Unified, said “a lot of work” went into the success of both district schools.

“These are two schools that have worked very hard and have very high-quality programs. Their staffs work well together to ensure high student achievement,” Wetzel said.

Linda Faverty, director of elementary education at Conejo Valley Unified, said Manzanita and Walnut, winners of the designation in the 1996-97 school year, have more than 15% of their students classified as low-income.

Since the state program began in 1985, all but two of the district’s 20 elementary schools have been selected as distinguished. “I’ve worked in lots of different districts, and this one is phenomenal,” Faverty said.

Moorpark’s Flory school had two reasons to celebrate. Along with the state award, the 467-student school is one of 50 U.S. schools selected as a NASA Explorer school. In addition to a $10,000 grant to purchase computers and science equipment, a team from Flory will spend a week this summer at Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena gathering tips on how to encourage science and technology learning.