Top job at Ensign locked up by former teacher

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH -- With a leader appointed to the top spot at last, the

administration at Ensign Intermediate School is ready to tackle some big

projects this year.

In his 20th year at Ensign, former history teacher Mike McGuire has

accepted the position of principal full-time.

“The change would be monumental if I hadn’t been here, but I’m just

changing hats,” McGuire said of his appointment.

On the top of his to-do list this year, McGuire included seeing Ensign

become a California Distinguished School.

The California Distinguished School award is part of the School

Recognition Program, created in 1985 to reward schools and provide

working models for other schools.

It is also a prerequisite for one of the nation’s top educational

honors, the National Blue Ribbon award.

When a school is named a California Distinguished School, it is

automatically eligible to apply for the national honor the following

year.

Since the program began, 13 Newport-Mesa schools have received the

state title, including Newport Harbor High School, which earned the honor

in 1986 and again in 1998.

This will be the first time Ensign has strived for the honor, but they

have a secret weapon, McGuire confided.

Lisa George, the parent volunteer who did a lion’s share of the

legwork for Newport Harbor’s Blue Ribbon application and Western Assn. of

Schools and Colleges accreditation last year, volunteered to help Ensign

with its lengthy application.

The deadline for that application is Friday.

Help from George and her right-hand man in the process, English

teacher Sean Bolton, has also freed up McGuire to concentrate on two

other projects.

“We’re in the process of forming a site-based oversight committee,

which should be done by the end of January,” he said. “And we continue to

press forward with what our campus will look like.”

McGuire filled the position left vacant by Principal Allan Mucerino,

who was one of nine principals to leave the Newport-Mesa school district

last year.

McGuire’s other top priority this year, he said, will be to continue

to increase staff and student preparedness for the Stanford 9 tests.