Schools meet with community to quell rumors

COSTA MESA ? The multipurpose room practically glimmered at TeWinkle Middle School on Wednesday evening, the result of construction that ended only a week ago. On the horizon was more good news ? the school is expected to start work on a new gymnasium this fall, and the district plans to throw in a shade structure for those blistering days outside.

When administrators from TeWinkle and Estancia High School gathered on Wednesday, however, they were seeking something that no bond money can buy: the trust of the local community.

Before an audience of about 50 parents, students and educators, the TeWinkle and Estancia staff put on their first-ever “Myth Buster Night,” a panel discussion designed to quell parents’ fears about sending their children to the two Westside campuses.

“We want you to know the real deal on our school,” said Vicki Snell, a TeWinkle parent who organized and hosted the event. “It hurts our feelings when people say bad things about our school that aren’t true.”

During the two-hour discussion, a panel including TeWinkle Principal Dan Diehl, Estancia Principal Tom Antal, Assistant Principal Sean Boulton and school board President David Brooks offered statistics and personal opinions. Snell had sent invitations to the families of all fourth- and fifth-grade students at Adams, California, Victoria and Wilson elementary schools.

The presentation addressed 10 “myths” surrounding the campuses that administrators claimed were inaccurate. Among the issues addressed were test scores at TeWinkle and Estancia, the threat of gangs and bullying, and the quality of English-language instruction.

TeWinkle and Estancia, which serve a large number of poor and English-learner students, commonly post lower test scores than the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s other secondary campuses. At the same time, both schools have gained over the past two years on the Academic Performance Index, a state system for charting schools’ growth.

In addition, the two schools surpassed other Newport-Mesa secondary campuses this year on the state’s “similar schools rank,” which compares sites to others in California with like demographics. TeWinkle and Estancia each scored an 8 out of 10 among campuses with similar ethnic groups and income levels.

“You’re comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges, and this is a real nice indicator to show how successful the schools are,” Diehl said.

Administrators from both schools insisted that gangs were not a major presence on campus, and that violence in general rarely posed a problem. Boulton said that in the past three years, Estancia had had only one zero-tolerance offense at an extra-curricular activity, and that was a case of alcohol use at a dance last year.

Police have handled a number of incidents at TeWinkle over the past few months. In February, the school made national headlines when a student threatened a classmate on the website MySpace.com. Later this spring, 18 students drew suspensions for carrying knives on campus, while the school suffered a break-in and vandalism in May.

Still, Diehl said, the school’s reputation for danger had been blown out of proportion.

“The major infractions come from 1% of the students,” he told the audience. “We’re not going to let that spoil it for the other 99%.”

Before the start of the current school year, Diehl instated an “action plan” to boost academic programs at TeWinkle and also to mend relations between the school’s white and Latino populations. Mirna Burciaga, a former TeWinkle parent, had filed a complaint about the school with the federal Office for Civil Rights, though the office later rejected it.