2 Schools in Running for National Honors

Two Ventura County schools have moved closer to being named recipients of a prestigious national award for education excellence, while a third school has been informed that it did not make the cut, educators said.

Medea Creek Middle School in Oak Park and Blackstock Junior High School in Port Hueneme have learned that the national Blue Ribbon Schools committee will visit their schools in the next month, officials said.

The team of educators, however, will not tour Cabrillo Middle School in Ventura, an early contender for the national award.

Cabrillo Principal Kris Bergstrom said federal officials indicated that they are impressed with the school’s overall curriculum and program.

“However, they felt that we lacked the exceptional status in technology,” Bergstrom said. “Basically, they said, ‘You guys are good, but we’re looking for specialized, technology-related programs.’ ”

This year, the Blue Ribbon program is focusing on schools that have excelled in bringing technology to classrooms, said Barbara Baldwin, a Hueneme Elementary School District spokeswoman.

Blackstock is a state model technology school site, having received significant government grants to install such equipment as computers, laser disks, videocassette recorders and CD-ROMs.

Medea Creek will also highlight its computer programs and parental involvement, another focus of this year’s Blue Ribbon program.

“This is a great honor to get this far,” said Laurel Ann Ford, Medea Creek principal. “Sometimes in education we hear a lot about the things we don’t do well. This is an opportunity for our staff to show what works well.”

The schools will learn in December whether they have won the national award.

Just seven of the 200 public schools in Ventura County have won Blue Ribbons since the recognition program began in 1982.