High schools focus on SAT preparation

Deirdre Newman

The principals for Costa Mesa’s two high schools are working on

ways to get more of their students to experience a traditional rite

of passage -- the SAT, which is used as an admission tool for

four-year universities.

After Costa Mesa and Estancia high schools turned out lower

percentages of students taking the test last year than Corona del Mar

and Newport Harbor highs, both principals -- Fred Navarro at Costa

Mesa and Tom Antal at Estancia -- say that by focusing on high

student achievement, students’ desire to continue academically will

naturally follow.

“Part of the culture that we want to establish here is high

expectations for everyone and part of that is providing the

enrichment courses that go hand-in-hand with helping juniors and

seniors raise their SAT scores,” Navarro said.

Navarro said he would work with the school leadership team to

explore various options to help raise student scores.

The school’s scores also lagged behind the two Newport Beach high

schools.

Navarro also emphasized the significance of the SAT IIs -- tests

in specific subjects like biology -- and the timing of taking these

tests.

“If a student is going to take an SAT II and they’re taking

biology in the ninth grade, they shouldn’t wait until their senior

year to take it,” Navarro said. “They should take it right after

freshman year.”

Antal echoed Navarro’s sentiments that his top priority is

instilling in students the confidence to pursue higher education.

“Our No. 1 goal for the school is to plant in students a more

enhanced vision for their own academic futures,” Antal said.

That said, he pointed out several measures the school is taking to

motivate more students to take and do well on the SAT, including:

* University of California students counseling Estancia students

* The AVID -- Advancement Via Individual Determination -- program,

which includes taking students to local universities.

“The whole idea is these kids will say, ‘you know the university

is real. I’ve touched it, I’ve walked it, it’s a place I really could

go to. It’s not somewhere in another world,’” Antal said.

* continuing to get courses approved by the UC system as eligible

for admission

* before-and after-school tutoring

* stressing the PSAT, so students get practice on a similar test

before they take the SAT

Antal said one reason some students do not take the SAT is because

they have already decided to go to a community college instead of a

four-year university.