Hopkinson Elementary School, which serves children in kindergarten through fifth grade, is one of several…More schools in the Los Alamitos Unified School District to be named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the United States Department of Education as well as a California Distinguished School by the California Department of Education.</p> <p>Additionally, Hopkinson has been repeatedly named a Scholar School by the California Business for Education Excellence Foundation. The motto of the school, headed by Principal Linda Stewart, is "Learning together in a partnership of cooperation, communication and caring."</p> <p>Hopkinson Elementary School offers Kids' Korner,  an extended day-care and after-school program featuring activities such as homework, crafts, games and supervised play. The school also offers a music program and a program for gifted students.</p>

Lee Elementary is a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence as well as a California Distinguished School. With a…More recent score of 938 in California's Academic Performance Index, Lee Elementary ranks among the top 25 of Orange County's elementary schools.</p> <p>With Leo the Leopard as the school's mascot, the students at Lee have a school pledge calling upon students to consider each day as a fresh and new opportunity to act and think responsibly.</p> <p>Under Principal Andrew Pulver, the school serves about 628 students with about 27 teachers. Teachers at within the Los Alamitos Unified School District earn considerably more than the statewide  average salary for teachers, and Lee's student scores on standardized tests are routinely much higher than California's averages. The school offers programs for gifted students, music and art, character development and after-school.</p>

The Los Alamitos Unified School District is the administrative body responsible for the community's six elementary…More schools, two middle schools, one comprehensive high school and one continuation high school. The elementary schools are Hopkinson, Lee, Los Alamitos, McGaugh, Rossmoor and Weaver. The two middles schools are McAuliffe and Oak. The high schools include Los Alamitos High and Laurel High continuation school. Scattered throughout Los Alamitos, Rossmoor and Seal Beach, the schools serve students from all three communities. Governed by a five-member elected school board, the district's elections are held in even years with about half the board's seats expiring each election year. School board meetings are typically held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. The school district offers several programs including special education, extended day care and the Gifted and Talented Education program.</p> <p>Gregory A. Franklin is the district's superintendent.</p>

Undergoing an extensive modernization remodel in 2010, McAuliffe is one of Los Alamitos Unified School District's two…More middle schools, serving students in grades six to eight. In 2009, 2003 and 1996, the school was named a California Distinguished School. Each year, nearly 1,300 students attend the school, which chose the eagle as its mascot. The typical class size at McAuliffe ranges from 29 to 32 students.</p> <p>Under Principal Dennis Sackett, the school boasts more than a dozen clubs ranging from the archery club to the sticker club. In annual standardized testing, a majority of McAuliffe students have exceeded state standards of proficiency and have vastly outperformed the statewide averages over the last several years.</p>

Established in 2000, The School News Roll Call is a free newspaper delivered to homes within the boundaries of the…More Los Alamitos Unified School District. Covering local schools and education issues, the paper offers regular features such as a messages from the school district's superintendent, county board of education officiails, local librarians and several of the school's principals. It is a truly local paper that is run by Founder and Publisher Kay Coop.</p> <p>The School News puts out zoned editions unique to each school district it covers, and it covers several throughout Southern California. The publication schedule is staggered depending on the school district being covered. For the Los Alamitos Unified School District, a new edition basically comes out every other month with a gap during the summer break. The School News can be found off Main Street in Seal Beach. The newsroom sits in an idealic setting in the small building at the back of Brita's Old Town Gardens.</p>

Established in Los Alamitos in 1971, the Montesori Greenhouse school emphasizes a holistic and nurturing approach to…More students through the Montessori approach to education. One of two locations in Orange County, the Montessori Greenhouse School in Los Alamitos serves students in the "early childhood" age range of 2 years and six months old to five years and eight months old. Toddlers and elementary school-aged children are served at the sister facility in West Garden Grove.</p> <p>The school offers a half-day program from 9am to noon and a whole day program from 9am to 3pm. Extended care is available. Reduced tuition is offered for students attending for fewer days during the week, and discounted rates are offered for multiple siblings enrolled at the school.</p>

The Lil Cottonwood Play Group is the community's longstanding co-op for parents and their preschoolers. Incorporated…More in 1959, it's an accredited school serving students from the surrounding areas of Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Cypress, Long Beach, Garden Grove and Westminster. Vicki Donahue is the school's director and teacher. Students range in age from three to five years old and fees range from $120 to $145 a month.</p> <p>Parents at Lil Cottonwood are expected to contribute in a variety of ways from assisting in the classroom to providing snacks and participating in fundraisers.</p>