Golden Bell Awards Recognize Schools Doing A+ Work

By TINA NGUYEN

Nov. 27, 1997 12 AM PT

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

More than a dozen Orange County schools are ringing in the holiday season with Golden Bell awards.

The honor goes to outstanding academic and student support programs. Sixty schools statewide are winners this year, the most since the program was founded in 1980 by the California School Boards Assn.

“The Golden Bell awards reflect the depth and breadth of education programs necessary to address students’ changing needs,” said Juanita Haugen, president of the Sacramento-based nonprofit group, which represents nearly 1,000 school districts and county offices.

Awards are given in 11 categories, including reading, mathematics, technology and career preparation.

Century High School in Santa Ana, for example, was honored for its Senior Exit Interview program, in which a panel of teachers, parents and business people conducts 30-minute interviews with students who are about to graduate. The students present a portfolio of their schoolwork from the last four years to demonstrate to the panel why they deserve to graduate.

“It’s a fulfilling experience for these students,” said Thomas Reasin, Century’s principal. “And it’s a practical program.”

The interview experience and school portfolios have helped some students land jobs after high school and have helped others get into prestigious colleges, he said. In one case two years ago, a Century High student rejected by Smith College sent her portfolio with an appeal to the admissions director. She got in.

Los Alisos Intermediate School in Mission Viejo won for transforming its 25-year-old campus into a technology hub with computers online in every classroom.

“We open our computer labs to the community as well,” Principal Jerry Ray said. The school offers computer training for senior citizens, teachers and parents.

This year’s Golden Bell recipients were selected from 325 nominees. Officials of the winning Orange County schools will be honored Dec. 6 at an awards luncheon in Anaheim.

More kudos may be ahead for local schools. Eight Orange County campuses have been nominated for the National Blue Ribbon Schools award, presented annually by the U.S. Department of Education.

Winners are chosen based on the quality of academic programs and other criteria, such as school leadership, student environment, curriculum and instruction. A team of national educators will visit the campuses and announce the finalists in May.

Orange County’s Blue Ribbon nominees are Dana Hills High School in Dana Point, Niguel Hills Middle School in Laguna Niguel, San Clemente High School, Rancho San Joaquin Middle School in Irvine, Los Alamitos High School, McAuliffe Middle School in Los Alamitos, Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, and Tustin High School.

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Prize Programs

The 18th annual Golden Bell awards cited 10 innovative school programs in Orange County. The winners are:

* Anaheim Union High School District

School: Western High

Program: Building Bridges: Pioneer Outreach Network for Diversity

Category: School Safety

* Capistrano Unified School District

School: Districtwide

Program: CORE Level Testing

Category: Accountability/Assessment

* Capistrano Unified School District