By Eliza Ridgeway

Joe Hu/Town Crier Covington student Jake Klepper cheers on his school’s recognition as a Distinguished School.

Covington Elementary School exploded with cheers April 25 when Principal Leslie Crane announced that the school had been recognized as a California Distinguished School. The award from the California Department of Education honors California’s most exemplary and inspiring schools.

Covington was reopened as an elementary school only three years ago. The new community school has built a unique learning environment. It joins Los Altos’ other elementaries, which have been named distinguished schools, according to Crane. The 21-year-old program received 997 applications this year from schools with test scores high enough to qualify and honored 337.

At the celebration Covington’s mascot, Coyote, a fur-costumed sixth-grader with pom-poms, gamboled onstage next to Crane as the students sang their school’s song and celebrated in bright orange school shirts. Parent volunteers cheered in the background, a common sight at the school.

Parents have developed an array of popular on-campus services for students, ranging from Coyote Lair, a lunchtime activities program, to a monthly nutrition class and daily hot lunches.

Covington is also known for its innovative sixth-grade programming. Not only do students take turns enlivening the Coyote, they also participate in a number of leadership programs that combine work with privileges. There is the exclusive “sixth-grade hangout,” an area of picnic tables and awnings that they keep tidy as a condition of its use. They set up chairs at assemblies, raise the flags each morning and manage playground balls for the lower grades.

The school offers the most learning disabled classes of any school in Los Altos and has developed a program for English-language learners. Teacher Judy Jorgenson, who helped draft Covington’s application, also spoke proudly of the ways the school prepares to meet children’s special medical needs on a daily basis.

“(The reopened) Covington started from a lot of hardship,” Crane said. “The district had just closed a school and changed boundaries. The task was to make this school and bring it together.”

As she spoke to the gathered crowd of students, Crane’s enthusiasm was infectious. “I just feel so proud and honored to be part of this community,” she said. “We are launched, we are well on our way.”