Victoria sees Blue Ribbon award

Kids at Victoria Elementary had the blues Wednesday morning — but they were all smiles about it.

The school celebrated its honor as a 2007 National Blue Ribbon School, a national award given to 27 schools in the state based on recommendations from the Department of Education.

Students, teachers, parents, school board members and local politicians came to celebrate Victoria’s accomplishment at a school assembly that featured each grade singing a song commemorating the event.

“Victoria is the type of school we would like to celebrate across the country,” Jeffrey Hubbard, Newport-Mesa School District superintendent, said a Department of Education representative told him.

Judy Laasko, principal at Victoria, has been working there since the school reopened in 1993. She credits the school’s ability to stay focused and keeping expectations high.

“We have the best students,” Laasko said.

Hubbard agreed the school has top-quality students, but also pointed to Laasko’s leadership as instrumental to high performance, as well as the community focus on the school.

“This is the apex, as good as it gets,” Hubbard said of the award.

The Blue Ribbon award is part of the No Child Left Behind act that honors high performing or dramatically improved schools nationwide. Across the nation, 167 public elementary schools receive the award.

Mariners Elementary School in Newport-Mesa also received the award, but was not celebrating it Wednesday. It was both schools’ first win. The winners were announced in October 2007 and recognized by the state in November. Victoria qualified and received the award under the category for Schools with Dramatically Improving Student Performance with at Least 40% of their Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds, according to the Department of Education website.

Victoria’s Academic Performance Index jumped last year, and the school saw increases in student proficiencies in math and English.

The Costa Mesa school is in line with all district schools — bringing up scores by occasionally separating students into smaller groups and individualizing the instruction and devoting more time after school.

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at daniel.tedford@latimes.com.