Newport-Mesa schools, faced with fleeing families, go all-out to woo parents

When Mark Hubbard and his wife discussed where to send their children to school, notions of low test scores and watered-down academics led them away from their neighborhood school in Costa Mesa.

Although Hubbard’s house sits right behind Estancia High School, he decided to enroll his five children in private elementary school and eventually drive them to Edison High School in Huntington Beach.

“We fell victim to the big-box-across-the-river philosophy — that it’s better on the other side of the hill,” he said. “All parents want to do what’s best for their kids and give them the best opportunities, but I made decisions with my eyes and not with my head.”

Families choosing to leave the Newport-Mesa Unified School District in favor of public schools just a short drive across the Santa Ana River in Huntington Beach or private facilities elsewhere in the county is a decades-old problem for the district. The trend is especially profound at Adams Elementary, which sits on Club House Road in the largely upscale Mesa Verde neighborhood.

Mesa Verde families have been leaving their community schools for nearly 20 years, beginning when the U.S. Department of Education directed Adams Elementary to enroll students from Costa Mesa’s largely low-income Westside.

The district has also seen families flee from California and Victoria elementary schools, as well as TeWinkle Middle and Estancia High, many before they even enroll their youngsters for a single year.

Some families return to Newport-Mesa years later, pleasantly surprised that the rumors about their neighborhood schools held little to no merit, Hubbard said.

His two younger daughters enrolled in Estancia High School after having a nondescript experience at Edison High School.

His daughters always excelled at sports, but because of the number of students at Edison and the level of competition, they were told they wouldn’t have claimed a spot on several varsity teams.

This led his family to reconsider Estancia, where his youngest daughter is now a senior.

“They just seemed to get lost in that big school,” he said of their experience at Edison.

In response to mounting discussion over the past several months, Newport-Mesa is hosting an informational “myth busters” night at Estancia High School, 2323 Placentia Ave., at 6 p.m. Nov. 6 in an attempt to reach parents who might be hesitant to enroll their kids in neighborhood schools.

The aim is to provide information to parents about the academic rigor and unique programs to be found at the schools.

The district has sent mailers to 11,000 residents in the Estancia High School zone, specifically targeting families who live near the high school, TeWinkle Middle, and California, Victoria and Adams elementary schools. While the district has hosted parent information nights before, this is the first time officials are conducting such a widespread outreach.

“It’s about having pride in your neighborhood school,” said TeWinkle Principal Kira Hurst. “We’re proud of our schools, and we want to share that.”

School board candidate Steve Smith questioned why Rea, Whittier and Wilson elementary schools aren’t part of the focus of the event, since those schools have also been plagued by low test scores in recent years.

However, district officials said those schools aren’t seeing the reduction of students that Adams, Victoria and California have experienced.

Reasons for abandoning neighborhood schools vary. Some families point to lower test scores and a perceived lack of academic demands. Others recount often-outdated stories of gang problems and violence at TeWinkle and Estancia.

However, district officials and other neighborhood school advocates note that when the scores are broken down into subgroups, students perform just as well as, if not better than, those enrolled in other cities.

White students in Westside schools have higher Academic Performance Index (API) scores than English-learners, students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and students with disabilities, according to data published by the California Department of Education.

The reputation of schools on the Westside is often overshadowed by factors that lower the overall API scores.

“That starts chipping away at what the real reputation of the school is,” Hurst said.

District officials hope that fact will entice Costa Mesa families hesitant to put their children in classes alongside immigrant children, some of whom are just learning English.

In the 2013-14 school year, 49 white students were enrolled at Adams Elementary, compared with 348 Latinos. However, Census data show that more than half of the Mesa Verde neighborhood is white.

Undercurrents of race, socioeconomic standing and class sit just below the surface during conversations about local schools.

“The neighborhood gets upset if you bring up race as an issue,” said school board Trustee Vicki Snell, who is running in the Nov. 4 election. “Nobody wants to be called a racist.”

When she was enrolling her own kids in kindergarten, Snell felt pressure from fellow parents to avoid Adams. Unlike many other families, she fought against the preconceived notions of the neighborhood campus.

Children who attend school with others from their neighborhood have the chance to extend their social interaction outside of the classroom, Snell said.

The district encourages families to sit in on a class at any of the schools and to visit the principal before deciding to leave the district.

“If you can get them in the doors, they will generally stay,” said district spokeswoman Laura Boss.

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If You Go

What: Myth busters night

When: 6 p.m. Nov. 6

Where: Estancia High School, 2323 Placentia Ave., Costa Mesa

Information: web.nmusd.us