AVHS GETS CHANGE OF COMMAND KAREN PATTERSON REPLACES MARK BRYANT AS PRINCIPAL.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Littlerock High School Assistant Principal Karen Patterson has been named principal of Antelope Valley High School, where top administrators are being replaced under a state order because of lagging test scores.

Patterson, who has been assistant principal at Littlerock for about seven years, was one of eight applicants - four of them from outside the Antelope Valley Union High School District - who were considered for the job she got.

``I know that children are the same everywhere, regardless of where you are. I sincerely believe all students can learn, given the correct support and environment, and it doesn't matter where you are,'' Patterson said in a telephone interview Thursday. ``If you put your heart and soul into it, then you can make a difference.''

Patterson replaced Mark Bryant, who will now be principal at Desert Pathways, a special education school adjacent to the campus of Quartz Hill High School.

Lisa Oates, who was assistant principal at Antelope Valley High, was named principal at Littlerock High School, replacing Michael Dutton, who was reassigned to the district office.

The three Antelope Valley High vice principals - Cary Johnson, Katherine Stanley and Jeff Ferrin - were moved to other schools. Johnson and Stanley will be vice principals at Quartz Hill High School, and Ferrin will be vice principal at Knight High School, which is under construction.

Replacing Bryant and the four other top administrators was a move ordered by a team of experts brought in by the state to boost test scores.

Antelope Valley High School was among four schools in the valley and 24 statewide ordered to undergo evaluations of their instructional programs by outside educators.

The others in the Antelope Valley are Palm Tree and Tamarisk schools in Palmdale and Wilsona School in Lake Los Angeles.

Though the schools are not the lowest-ranking in California, they failed for two years in a row to meet targets for improvements in scores on the state's Academic Performance Index.

Patterson, who will start at Antelope Valley High on July 1, did well during the interview process, district officials said.

``She outscored every outsider there was,'' said Tim Azevedo, assistant superintendent of personnel. ``She's very strong in data and research and curriculum, which are exactly what the (team of experts) said needed to be addressed.''

Patterson taught science at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys in the Los Angeles Unified School District from 1985 to 1993. She then served as assistant principal for curriculum and instruction in the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District from 1993 to 1996.

She obtained a bachelor's degree in zoology, with a minor in chemistry, from California State University, Long Beach. She also has a master's degree in education administration.