La Mariposa named a Distinguished School

The personal call from Jack O'Connell was unexpected, but it was what the State Superintendent of Public Instruction had to say that's made La Mariposa Elementary School's Principal Pam Gonzalez smile ever since

O'Connell personally congratulated Gonzalez and 342 other principals on Tuesday for their schools being chosen as 2008 California Distinguished Schools.

The Camarillo school is only one of eight Ventura County schools and the only one in the Pleasant Valley School District to receive the honor this year.

"It's exciting news," said Gonzalez, principal of the sixyear old kindergartenthroughfifth-grade school. "It's an honor for our school but it represents the teamwork we have here... It all shows."

The selection criteria were more stringent than ever before, requiring schools to write a "substantive" narrative application and submit to an "extensive" site evaluation, the California Department of Education said.

Of the 839 schools throughout the state that applied for the honor, which is based in part on their Adequate Yearly Progress results and Academic Performance Index, only 343 met the standard and were chosen.

"I was honored to be able to join in the excitement as these dedicated educators learned their schools earned this coveted title," O'Connell said in a prepared statement. "From their stories, it became clear that they share a school-wide vision of excellence where every student can succeed and achieve at the very highest levels of performance."

The schools will be honored at an awards ceremony and dinner at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim on May 16.

Participation in the coveted Distinguished School award, which is part of the 23-year-old California School Recognition Program, is voluntary. Elementary and middle schools are eligible to participate in alternate years.