Newport Harbor among finalists for Blue Ribbon

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH -- Newport Harbor High School has cleared another major

hurdle and is headed toward the finish line, where it hopes to be named a

national Blue Ribbon School.

Principal Bob Boies received word last week that the school has been

named a finalist and can expect a visit from the U.S. Department of

Education sometime within the next few months.

It is the highest honor bestowed by the federal government upon a local

school. If awarded Blue Ribbon status, Newport Harbor will be the third

Newport-Mesa school in three years to receive the honor.

“I’m happy,” said Joe Robinson, a Newport Harbor teacher who was

instrumental in writing the application. “It took a lot of work -- it’s

like three or four steps you have to go through to get here, but we made

the second cut.”

School officials are now preparing to put their best foot forward for a

site visit from the Department of Education. But the school is one step

ahead of the game this year, Boies said.

After receiving the honor of being named a California Distinguished

School last year, Boies said the school had a 50% chance of becoming a

Blue Ribbon School. Then, when the state chose to send the application on

to the national level, it jumped to about 70%, he said.

With the announcement of the visit, Boies said, that number leaps to 90%.

“Basically, we’ve been getting ready all year because we knew this was

our year to get accredited. We’ll use the same materials,” he said. “A

lot of the elements are common to both.”

Visitors will be scrutinizing student work, programs, test scores,

student involvement, parent involvement, the academies and several other

facets.

“The big challenge was getting them to come,” Robinson said. “Once they

get here, they’ll see what a great place it is.

“This is a validation visit, to ensure that all the things that were in

our application are here,” he said.

Two years ago, Corona del Mar High School was named a Blue Ribbon school.

In October, Lincoln Elementary School went to Washington, D.C. to receive

its Blue Ribbon plaque.

The Blue Ribbon program was developed by the Secretary of Education in

1982 to identify and give recognition to outstanding schools nationwide

and to provide a model, with a framework of criteria.

“I am so excited,” said Dana Black, school board president. “Also, I’m

not surprised. It’s a very dedicated, hard-working community and we

started it years ago.”