- For more information about SARC requirements, see the California Department of Education (CDE) SARC web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/.
- For more information about the LCFF or LCAP, see the CDE LCFF web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/.
- For additional information about the school, parents/guardians and community members should contact the school principal or the district office.
DataQuest
California School Dashboard
Laura Makely, Principal
- Principal, D. Russell Parks Junior High
About Our School
A diverse community of stakeholders supports our junior high school of 933 students: D. Russell Parks Junior High School. Parks serves 7th and 8th grade students who thrive within a community of caring teachers, support staff, and parents. Surrounding small business owners, community members, administrators, parents, teachers, and students work together to ensure a rigorous and balanced teaching and learning experience. Parks’s 2 administrators, 43 teachers, and 9 classified staff members work collaboratively with the extended community to serve our students. Several extended community members and teachers seek to send their children to our school on transfer permits, and Parks gladly accommodates as many families as possible. The Panther Family is one big, inclusive family and embraces a vision of #parksbest2years!
Parks’s staff prioritizes learning over teaching with the Fullerton School District’s 1:1 Visible Innovation Program. The 1:1 VIP allows for a complete personalization of student learning. Learning is personalized with a blended educational technology model in a caring environment where mutual respect is practiced and valued. With the 1:1 VIP, we strive to give each and every child access to critical thinking skills that will allow students to effectively communicate, collaborate, investigate, solve problems, and achieve their full academic and creative potential.
The 1:1 VIP program works because of Parks’s PBIS pillars: Respectful, Responsible, and Purposeful. These pillars empower Parks’s students to flourish with multidimensional teaching and learning modalities. The strength in our pillars alongside the 1:1 VIP program encourages increased content knowledge, literacy skills, and success in student-led projects. It is not uncommon to walk around our campus and see a number of students tucked away in pockets of nature, atop hills, or on the theatron steps using a variety of iPad applications to record a video, audio, or other multimedia presentation.
Parks’s students have agency to access open-source, digital curriculum that wraps around 21st century concepts in personalized learning. Students use digital assessment tools, multimedia collaboration platforms, and multi-dimensional learning modalities for gaining content knowledge and literacy skills necessary for college and career readiness. Students attended our PATHFinder career kickoff and College Con events as agents of change ready to impact the world.
Throughout the years, Parks has earned several accolades including the following: California Business for Education Excellence Scholar School 2009-2013, Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship Certified School 2015 - 2020, an API State Ranking of 10, and a Similar Schools Ranking of 9. One of Parks’s teachers earned “Top 25 in Orange County,” as well. Celebrating success gives Parks the power to continue in our great work, exceed expectations in optimism and hope, and achieve student success with our passion-powered 1:1 VIP program!
Contact
D. Russell Parks Junior High1710 Rosecrans Ave.
Fullerton, CA 92833-1912
Phone: 714-447-7785
Email: laura_makely@myfsd.org