‘Distinguished’ Gentleman

This week, leaders at Newport Harbor High School learned that they

had been honored as a California Distinguished School for the third

time. Much is made of academics these days, and where students go to

school, the teachers they meet and the lessons they learn can make

the difference for their entire life.

So why is attending a Distinguished School such an honor? To help

us answer that question and others, Daily Pilot Editor Tony Dodero

caught up with Newport Harbor High Principal Michael Vossen this week

for a quick chat:

Were you surprised to hear that Newport Harbor received this

Distinguished School honor?

I didn’t want to be overly confident, but I wasn’t surprised.

Given the criteria on the state application, I felt that Harbor High

met every expectation.

What are the main ingredients needed to become a Distinguished

School?

The selection criteria focus on all areas of the school’s

educational program so that those selected are strong, well-rounded

community schools. Some of the specific focus points include

visionary and collaborative leadership, high academic expectations

for all students, implementation of state-adopted standards,

academically competent and caring teachers, strong professional

development, varied teaching strategies that provide challenging

learning experiences for all students, a strong core curriculum in

all required subject areas, learning support services for “at-risk”

students, support for student learning through family involvement and

business, and a safe school culture that supports inclusion of all

students.

What does this honor really mean for students and teachers?

It is a tremendous validation for the entire school community that

our focus is in the right place -- on preparing all students to

succeed in life.

Why has Newport Harbor been so successful at it?

Two huge components that must exist for a school to be successful

are a dedicated faculty composed of many teacher-leaders and a

supportive parent body.

To the first, Harbor is blessed with a depth and breadth of

teacher talent not common to all schools. We constantly have teachers

going “above and beyond the call” both inside and outside the

classroom, with several leading our most successful programs.

Regarding our supportive parents, they are second to none. Our

Newport Harbor Educational Foundation is one of the most successful

high school fundraising foundations in the state. They are committed

to supporting the school’s strategic plan by raising the necessary

funds. This year, our foundation has a goal of raising $1 million.

Simply put, we could not operate the programs that have earned us

this Distinguished School recognition without our foundation.

Tell us about some of the academic programs at Newport Harbor that

make it a unique place?

All our programs focus on creating smaller learning communities in

which students can be academically challenged and teachers can

collaborate to focus on individual student needs. Our “tried and

true” programs are our AVID (Advancement via Individual

Determination) program, which provides students the motivation and

academic tools necessary to succeed in a four-year college and our

Academy Program (Franklin, Da Vinci and Magellan), which encourages

students to explore areas of personal interest within the curriculum.

We have an outstanding new program in its pilot year called

Freshmen Seminar. This program is facilitated by teachers and pairs

up “at-risk” freshmen with a senior mentor. These “role model”

seniors help the freshmen get through their very important first year

by helping them develop study skills, tutoring them and providing

them with coping skills necessary to succeed in life. The positive

student morale generated by this program is tremendous.

What can Newport Harbor be better at?

While we are providing sound academic intervention for a larger

number of students, we still have students who are not successful for

a number of different reasons. Our strategic planning team and

departments continue to look at achievement data to explore new ways

of assisting all students. In particular, we need to focus on our

Latino population, many of whom are continuing to struggle

academically.

What’s the future going to be like for Newport Harbor? What will

be the challenges for the years to come?

There’s no doubt that an ongoing challenge for us will be

providing our best and brightest with a rigorous curriculum while

raising the bar and motivating our “at-risk” students.

While we are honing in on programs that work, the challenge will

be in expanding our existing programs and initiating new ones by

raising the appropriate dollars to support them. The state’s current

trend of pushing unfunded mandates on all schools is putting a

tremendous amount of pressure on educators.

Regardless, I believe Harbor High will always find a way to

provide all students with a superb education that will rival any

public or private high school.