School principals to receive just rewards

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA - Three of Newport-Mesa’s principals will receive kudos

and cash tonight from the Irvine Co.

Continuing its ongoing recognition of students and educators, the

development company will honor 10 administrators from the Irvine, Laguna

Beach, Newport-Mesa and Tustin school districts tonight with the

Principal Excellence Awards.

Chosen from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District for their

outstanding leadership this year were Karen Kendall, principal of Harbor

View Elementary School in Corona del Mar; Barbara Harrington, who just

retired as principal of Adams Elementary School in Costa Mesa; and Sonora

Elementary School Principal Lorie Hoggard.

“I was stunned, thrilled and surprised when I got it,” Kendall said.

“I am honored that I could be considered an excellent principal.”

To the parents and teachers who nominated the recipients and filled

out lengthy applications, the news is no surprise -- it is well-deserved.

“She’s just amazing,” Leigh Randall, PTA president and a substitute

teacher at Sonora, said of Hoggard. “She’s someone who is always on top

of things. You no sooner ask her for something and it happens.”

After being at Sonora for only a year and a half, Hoggard said she was

both surprised and honored by the PTA’s nomination.

“I feel like it was a perfect match for me to be here at Sonora,” she

added.

For 15 years, the Irvine Co. has honored students and teachers with

banquets and educational grants. Last year, it began the program to honor

principals and in keeping with their tradition, awarded each honoree a

$3,500 educational grant.

This year, that amount was stepped up to $5,000 for each principal to

use on professional development or special programs.

“The company realized that the principals and administrators in a

school are a crucial part of educational excellence, along with students,

teachers and the whole community,” said Rich Elbaum of the Irvine Co.