Cerro Villa Middle School Celebrates Selection
as California and National “School to Watch”

Villa Park, CA – January 25, 2018 - On Thursday, February 22, 2018 at 1:15 p.m. in the school auditorium, students, staff, parents, district leaders, school board members and community members will celebrate the selection of Cerro Villa Middle School as one of California’s 2018 Schools to Watch-Taking Center Stage model middle schools. In June the school will also be recognized in Washington DC as a National School to Watch.

“We are thrilled to have received this recognition,” said Principal Lisa Ogan. “Our staff and students have worked very hard in an exciting and challenging middle school program to demonstrate strong student achievement. This ceremony is an affirmation of the fine work so many have done in the school, district and larger community.” 

The celebration will feature an address to the student body on their school’s selection as a model and the presentation of a banner. Dr. Irvin Howard, Past-President of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, noted, “Cerro Villa Middle School is a model of what an outstanding middle school can be. School leaders from across the state will now turn to Cerro Villa Middle School for guidance on improving their programs to better serve their students.”

Cerro Villa Middle School serves seventh to eighth grade students in Orange Unified School District. California’s Schools to Watch-Taking Center Stage program uses a competitive, rigorous review process to identify high performing, high impact middle schools so that all middle schools may have models of real-world success. Cerro Villa Middle School is one of just of 112 model schools that have been identified statewide since 2003.  The program is provided by the California Middle Grades Alliance, which includes the California League of Middle Schools (CLMS; the lead agency), California Department of Education, and other statewide educational organizations who are partners in the California Middle Grades Alliance. For more information on the program, contact Carole Carlson, Director ccarlsonedu@gmail.com  or Dr. Irvin Howard, Co-Director, at (951) 318-7515 or STWCAL@gmail.com .