D. Russell Parks Junior High School is a
junior high school located in
Fullerton, California, United States. It serves students in seventh and eighth grade, and is part of the
Fullerton School District
The Fullerton School District is a school district in California, with its headquarters in Fullerton. The school district serves the city of Fullerton, as well as small portions of La Habra, Brea, and Buena Park. It has schools from grades Kinde ...
. The school has been recognized on two separate occasions with a Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departmen ...
, the highest award a North American school can receive. Parks' mascot is the Panther.
As of the 2018-2019 school year, the school had 1050~1100 students and 38 teachers (on an
FTE basis), for a
student-teacher ratio
A student teacher or prac teacher (''practice teacher'') is a college, university or graduate student who is teaching under the supervision of a certified teacher in order to qualify for a degree in education.
The term is also often used interch ...
of 24.6 compared to the average 19.3.
[National Center for Education Statistics data for Parks Junior High School]
accessed March 30, 2019.
When the school opened, the student population was over 90% Caucasian.
[ With demographic changes in the ensuing years, the school has become ]majority minority
A majority-minority or minority-majority area is a term used to refer to a subdivision in which one or more racial, ethnic, and/or religious minorities (relative to the whole country's population) make up a majority of the local population.
Ter ...
; for 2003–04 its student body was 57% Asian, 13% Hispanic, 15% Caucasian, and 13% African American, and by 2013–14 it was 43% Asian, 29% Hispanic and African American, and 23% Caucasian.[In 2018-19 it is 43.1% Asian, 28.5% Hispanic and African American, and 23.4% Caucasian.
As documented in the school's application for its second Blue Ribbon award, student test scores greatly exceed state averages, exemplified by the fact that 82.7% of eighth graders taking the California State Standards Test scored "At or Above Proficient," in contrast to 29.4% of students statewide.][
Parks Junior High School mainly feeds into ]Sunny Hills High School
Sunny Hills High School (SHHS) is a public high school located in Fullerton, California, United States. Established in 1959, it is part of the Fullerton Joint Union High School District.
The campus, consisting mostly of single-story open plan bu ...
, Troy High School, and Buena Park High School
Buena Park High School (BPHS) is a public high school located at 8833 Academy Drive in Buena Park, Orange County, California, USA.
History
Buena Park High School opened its doors with 508 students on September 11, 1956, as the third school in t ...
. All offer International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...
programs.
History
Parks was built in 1972[Parks Junior High School 2004 Blue Ribbon Schools Program application]
accessed May 4, 2007. in honor of Dr. D Russell Parks, former superintendent of the Fullerton Public Elementary School system. The school is located in Fullerton on the corner of Rosecrans Avenue and Parks Road, formerly an unconnected section of Brookhurst Avenue. The street was renamed in order to conform with a rule instituted by Dr. Parks himself maintaining that schools be named after the streets on which they stand.
The school was constructed to blend in with the surrounding hills and trees. The interior of the school was designed as an open structure, with movable walls and open doorways. The architects believed that the sound of students learning will encourage other kids to learn. As a result, the partially formed walls between classes allow noises from the classes adjacent to be heard. That structure was only in the main buildings (not the portables) before 2015 however. In 2016, the main building was shut down for construction due to asbestos. [
]
Awards and recognition
During the 2008–2009 school year, D. Russell Parks Junior High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departmen ...
. The school was recognized a second time as a Blue Ribbon School in the 2004–05 school year.
In 2008–09, Parks was recognized as a California Distinguished School, an award given by the California State Board of Education
The California State Board of Education is the governing and policy-making body of the California Department of Education. The State Board of Education sets K-12 education policy in the areas of standards, instructional materials, assessment, and ...
to public schools within the state that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs.Distinguished School Awards: Award Winners for Orange County
California Department of Education, accessed January 25, 1995.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Parks Junior High School website
National Center for Education Statistics data for Parks Junior High School
Education in Fullerton, California
Educational institutions established in 1972
Public middle schools in California
Schools in Orange County, California