TUSTIN : Middle School Gets $500,000 Grant

Columbus Tustin Middle School has been awarded a $500,000 grant by the California Department of Education, the largest grant ever awarded to a school in the district, Principal Bob Boies said.

The Department of Education selected the school as part of a program that provides funds to elementary, middle and high schools over the next five years for “restructuring” and to “better prepare students for the 21st Century,” a spokesman for the district said.

Columbus Tustin, one of 10 schools in the county and 137 statewide selected to receive grant money, will receive its first installment of $50,000 in January. That money will go toward completing the school’s computer lab and purchasing equipment for a new video technology lab, Boies said.

Boies said the school’s restructuring plan will focus on four major areas: creating schoolwide instruction in which different departments will work together; team teaching; student-run businesses sponsored by community business partners; and the creation of student portfolios with audiotapes and videotapes.