BIG HOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE; PRISON PROGRAM GIVES MOORPARK SCHOOL UPGRADED COMPUTERS FOR THE CLASSROOM.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales / Daily News Staff Writer

Peach Hill School Principal Carlos Pagan was getting so many calls from an Antelope Valley state prison that the teachers and staff were beginning to notice and wondering.

``At first I was a little surprised myself. I'd think - why is the prison calling me? Is some distant relative in jail?'' said Pagan, now beginning his second year as principal of the Moorpark elementary school. ``Then I'd remember - it's about the computers.''

Beginning this fall, students in eight Peach Hill classrooms will work on IBM computers that arrived at the school by way of California State Prison-Los Angeles County.

The computers were donated to the school through the Detwiler Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the number of computers in California schools. The foundation coordinates efforts between businesses and vocational computer repair programs at 13 out of California's 33 state prisons.

Just before school started, Pagan drove to the state prison in Lancaster to pick up eight refurbished and upgraded 486 computers donated to the school by the foundation.

``The foundation called and said they had the computers for us and would we send someone to pick them up,'' Pagan said. ``So I drove up to Lancaster to get them. I was quite impressed. It's run like a big business, with a warehouse and shipping and receiving - the whole thing. The only difference is all the workers are wearing blue. The prison officials called me and told me not to wear blue when I came to pick up the computers.''

Companies donate computers, which are then shipped to prisons where inmates upgrade and repair the machines. Inmates learn computer repair skills, and the refurbished computers go on to schools. Since its founding in 1991, the foundation has shipped about 33,000 computers to schools. The goal is to improve California's ranking among states from 50th to first in terms of the number of computers in the classroom.

``We've all heard the statistics about how it costs $30,000 per year to feed and house one inmate, and how we spend about $4,500 per child on education,'' Pagan said. ``Well, I like to think of this as a way of getting some of that $30,000 back to education.''

The new computers will be the first IBM machines at the elementary school, and will allow more students more computer time.

``We already have Macs in each classroom, and we have two computer labs that classes can rotate through and that provide a computer for each student and the teacher,'' Pagan said. ``It also has a digital screen that allows students to follow along with the teacher . . . but now eight of our classrooms will have both IBMs and Macs, so students can learn both platforms.''

In Lynne Markum's third grade class, students sign up for 15-minute slots on the computer. On Wednesday morning, two third-graders worked together, coaching each other through a kid's calendar program.

``I pair students because some know a lot about computers and some don't know as much,'' Markum said. ``Computers in the classroom are especially important because, like many schools, we have some students who don't have computers in the home . . . so school is the only way some children will be ready for a working world that has computers everywhere.''

Companies interested in donating used computers to the Detwiler Foundation can call [phone]. Companies can designate a specific school as the recipient of upgraded and refurbished computers. For more information about the Computers for Schools Program, visit the foundation's Web site at www.detwiler.org.

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PHOTO (color in Simi edition only) Principal Carlos Pagan watches Peach Hill third-graders Tyler Frenzel, left, and Karissa Dolan, both 8, use computers.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News