This week was a good one for McGaugh Elementary in the Los Alamitos Unified School District. First, on Monday, the California Department of Education announced the outcome of the annual state testing process. This happy result was quickly followed by the award of a $5,000 grant.
In our exclusive report (see related article below) on the state test results announced on Monday, OC180NEWS reported McGaugh was the most improved school in the Los Alamitos District. As more fully explained in that article, McGaugh was the only school in the district that had improvements in all test subjects for two years running.
Summarizing results as the percentage of students scoring at or above proficient, McGaugh saw higher scores in English, math, and science, the three subjects tested at the elementary level. Further, each of these scores was also higher in 2010 compared to 2009. McGaugh was the only school in the district which could make such a claim.
Next, on Wednesday McGaugh received a $5,000 grant from the Barona Band of Mission Indians. California State Senator Tom Harman nominated the Seal Beach school for the grant as part of the organization’s annual Barona Education Grant Program.
“Successful schools are characterized by parental involvement and local control, with dollars going directly to the classroom to enhance the learning experience for students,” said Senator Harman in a prepared statement. “McGaugh Elementary School certainly fits that description.
McGaugh is home to a large population of students with special needs. The Barona Education Grant will be used to purchase digital projectors, document cameras, and iPads for special day classrooms where students have a variety of academic challenges.
“New technologies are increasingly providing innovative and engaging mediums for students with special needs to access and engage with academic content. It is essential that we embrace these new approaches as a means of supporting and advancing both behavioral and academic learning” said School Principal, William MacDonald.
The grant process invites schools to describe a critical need and how a Barona Grant would address that need. The application is submitted by and requires a recommendation from a state legislator.
“It was an absolute pleasure to nominate McGaugh School for this $5,000 grant which will bring new audio-visual learning aids for children with special needs,” concluded Senator Harman. “These are dollars that will go directly into the classroom to help our kids!”
The Los Alamitos Unified School District serves nearly 10,000 students in Seal Beach, Rossmoor, and Los Alamitos. The district includes Los Alamitos High School, a full service high school, Laurel High School, a continuation high school, McAuliffe Middle School, Oak Middle School, and six elementary schools. Mrs. Karen Russell is the current President of the Board of Education. Dr. Sherry Kropp is the Superintendant of the Los Alamitos Unified School District.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading …
About Dolores Barr, Publisher
Dolores Barr has lived in Rossmoor since 1992 and has created this site to provide local news for the people of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Leisure World, Sunset Beach, and Surfside, California. My husband and I have had two students graduate from the Los Alamitos Unified School District and currently our Grandson, Ricky Apodaca, grade 3 at Weaver Elementary, is actively involved in youth baseball through LAYB and youth football through FNL.
In 
So excited to see McGaugh earn all of these honors! Excellent leadership in the administration and teachers, as well as in the students and parents. I am lucky to have my children go to school there!