They Bend Over Backward to Get into West Campus

By Kim Minugh, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Feb. 11–More than 40 percent of the students at West Campus High School come from families poor enough that they qualify to get their school lunches for free — or at least for a bargain.

One-third of them live in homes where relatives speak languages other than English.

Yet it is the most sought-after secondary school in Sacramento City Unified School District.

An open-enrollment campus, students must apply to get in. And, typically, twice as many students apply as there are openings each year; this year, about 550 vied for roughly 200 seats. Applicants are screened against a list of criteria, and a random lottery assigns precious few spots.

Parents of unlucky students call throughout the year, checking for unexpected openings, administrators say.

No other high school in the surrounding four counties has scored higher than West Campus on the statewide Academic Performance Index; only 25 other high schools in California have.

Last week, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell announced that West Campus was one of two schools in California and only 71 nationwide to receive a National Distinguished Title I School Recognition Award because of the academic success of its students.

He called West Campus a "model for other high-poverty schools in California and across the nation."

"There is the highest expectation I have seen, ever, from the teachers," said Principal Evelyn Baffico, who came to the school this year. "The students have bought into that. They’re living it, they’re breathing it.

"If you raise the bar, the students will rise to the occasion."

In 1985, West was a business and technology satellite program for Hiram Johnson High School, called "Hiram Johnson West Campus" for its location due west of the main campus. West Campus cut ties with Hiram Johnson in 2000.

Though the two campuses still get each other’s mail, and an ambulance intended for a West Campus student once went to Johnson by mistake, West Campus has clearly established its own identity.

Its college-preparatory mission is echoed in the hallways and classrooms: a counseling office covered in college pennants, a biology teacher boasting a UCLA sweat shirt, a senior wearing a navy-blue "Cal" hoodie with matching yellow dangling earrings.

"At another school, it’s ‘Are you going to college?’ At this school, it’s ‘What college are you going to?’ " said 17-year-old Damarrus Grant, a senior. "You are going to go. It’s, like, mandatory here."

The master schedule shows it. Periods are booked with Advanced Placement classes and language studies. Only a few non-college preparatory electives are available — one, a drama class, added for the first time this year.

Ask West Campus students what they might change about their school, and — after noting the lack of a real football field and the ("lame") collared-shirt rule — they get around to the lack of "fun" electives.

They’d like to see lighter classes like photography or cooking. Even the art class at West Campus is hard, Grant said.

"I think the fact we’re so busy keeps us out of trouble," said Jessica Gutierrez, 17. "They don’t want you looking for some other outlet."

"Especially in this neighborhood," adds fellow senior Mercedes Mendilla.

Mendilla, who lives in nearby Tahoe Park, met representatives from various high schools when she was in the eighth grade, but nobody stood out — until she talked to someone from West Campus.

She wanted to become the first in her family to go to college so that life would be "easier," she said. The West Campus representative told her that nearly all of their students go to college.

"That’s me," she remembers thinking. "I need to go to college."

Last year, West Campus graduated about 220 seniors. Every single one of them was accepted to a two- or four-year college or university; 98 percent actually went, Assistant Principal Howard Mahoney said.

To get in, students submit applications that include grade transcripts, test scores, essays and letters of recommendation. A reviewing committee assigns points for various categories, and applications with enough points are forwarded to a random lottery.

Over the years, administrators have changed the scoring system so that a student can earn points in areas such as citizenship and leadership — not just academics. They’ve also slowly ratcheted up the minimum required grade-point average from 2.0 to 2.85.

Some teachers, including art teacher and student government adviser Gerry Mamola, say West Campus has become elitist, reserved only for the smartest students whose parents steer them to the school.

West Campus is so popular among families whose children attend Sutter Middle School — a high-achieving and highly sought-after open-enrollment campus for seventh- and eighth-graders — that it’s earned the nicknames "Sutter West" and "Sutterville," he said.

West Campus’ efforts to recruit middle schoolers have varied over the 15 years Mamola has taught there. This year, students at every middle school in the district were visited, at Baffico’s insistence.

Screening students is necessary to maintain the college-preparatory environment, Mamola said, but "it shouldn’t be at the cost of those other (less-academic) kids. They should be able to get here, too."

"This has been a great place for inner-city kids with diverse backgrounds to be successful," Mamola said.

Baffico said a delicate balance must be struck between maintaining high expectations and increasing accessibility. She’s planned a meeting next week to talk with staff members about it. But already, she said she is committed to making recruitment a bigger priority.

"It’s not just opening the door, but going out and grabbing them by the arm. Not just pulling them, but pushing them," she said. "I think that’s what it’s going to take."

Students at West Campus overwhelmingly describe their school as friendly, supportive and accepting of diversity. Katherine Montanez recalled a day just after school started when she realized, with great freshman fear, that she didn’t know how to open her locker. She stopped a random student who was happy to help.

"I think the high school stereotype doesn’t exist at West Campus," she said.

During lunchtime Thursday, boys competed on a chin-up bar while military recruiters watched, student government leaders were preparing for a schoolwide spirit activity the next morning, and members of the Black Student Union tried to get students to "krump" — a style of dancing popular among some African American kids. Among the takers were several Asian boys in baggy pants and ball caps and a skinny white girl in a Hollister sweat shirt. Students hollered and cheered in support.

Sae Cha, one of the dancers, said it was a scene one might not find at all high schools. "We’re very open about our culture," he said.

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