In a predawn salute, OCDE educators deliver lawn signs to celebrate 44 Distinguished Schools

Ian Hanigan
2025 Distinguished School sign at Bonita Canyon Elementary.
A celebratory lawn sign appears outside Irvine’s Bonita Canyon Elementary School, one of 44 campuses in Orange County honored as 2025 California Distinguished Schools.

Late Monday night and early Tuesday morning, a covert crew of OCDE educators carried out a predawn mission.

Call it “Operation Distinction.”

The objective? Plant celebratory yard signs at 44 elementary schools recently named 2025 California Distinguished Schools — all before the first bell.

2025 Distinguished School sign at A.G. Cook Elementary.
As part of a longstanding tradition, OCDE staff members posted congratulatory signs outside local campuses recognized as 2025 California Distinguished Schools, including A.G. Cook Elementary in Garden Grove Unified.

This year’s deliveries were orchestrated by OCDE’s Educational Services Division, with 27 team members fanning out across Orange County to quietly salute campuses recognized for academic excellence and equity.

“A Distinguished School designation honors the amazing work of its teachers, staff, students and school community,” said Ron Segundo, project manager with Educational Services. “To keep to our time-honored tradition, our lawn sign delivery salutes the work of these extraordinary OC schools.”

Administered by the state Department of Education, the California Distinguished Schools program celebrates campuses that are closing achievement gaps or demonstrating exceptional student performance. The 2025 honorees, including 44 from Orange County, were announced March by State Superintendent Tony Thurmond.

OCDE’s lawn sign tradition dates back more than 20 years and continues to serve as a grassroots — pun intended — gesture of recognition for educators, students and families across the county.