County honors principal

FOR THE RECORD

A story Tuesday, “County honors principal,” should have included Stacy Holmes on the list of Newport-Mesa Unified School District employees who have won Orange County’s Outstanding Contributions to Education Award in the last year.

Holmes, the principal of Kaiser Elementary School in Costa Mesa, received the award in January.

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When Judy Laakso became principal of Victoria Elementary School in 1993, she didn’t have much of an act to follow — the Westside school, located in one of Costa Mesa’s poorest areas, had been closed for a number of years.

Since then, with Laakso at the helm, the school has steadily racked up honors. The state named it a California Distinguished School in 2000 and 2006, and it has posted high enough scores to stay off the federal Program Improvement list — unlike most Newport-Mesa schools with low-income populations.

Laakso got a recognition of her own this week, as she became the third Newport-Mesa staffer in the last year to win the county’s Outstanding Contributions to Education Award. Laakso followed Newport Coast Elementary School teacher Ingrid Ohanian and Newport Heights Elementary School Principal Kurt Suhr, both of whom won the honor last year.

“I think I’m most proud of the Victoria family, the students and the parents and the staff,” said Laakso, who previously served as principal of Andersen Elementary School in Newport Beach. “I think they’re all remarkable. It truly does take everybody, I think, to provide the best education for kids.”

Laakso was nominated for the county award by Victoria music teacher Bridget Duffin and plans to get her award at the Orange County Department of Education office on March 15. The department presents the awards on six occasions throughout the year, with several winners each time.

Victoria, which is classified as a Title I school with more than 40% low-income students, scored 828 points out of 1,000 last year on the state’s Academic Performance Index. The score was the highest of any Title I school in Newport-Mesa. In May, the school became the first in district history to win both Distinguished School recognition and the Title I Academic Achievement Award.