They bend over backward to get into West Campus

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.

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