Good Sunday morning to you. Breakfast is at home this morning while unpacking the first of the Christmas decorations.

There's a high school in Southwest County where both the graduation and attendance rates are 98 percent; where class sizes are small, allowing more individual teacher attention; where the campus is immaculate and the principal shakes hands with everyone as they arrive each morning.

You'd think there would be a line of parents there trying to enroll their sons and daughters.

That's not the case at Ortega High School, the Lake Elsinore Unified School District's continuation high school.

But there are many positive things going on at Ortega High, including a staff dedicated to helping get students back on track toward both graduation and productive lives.

This week I was invited, along with about 20 other men and women, to be the Principal for the Day at a school in the Lake Elsinore district.

At Ortega High, I learned that the reason students attend ---- enrollment is about 230 ---- differ widely from child to child.

"The biggest misconception is that continuation schools are filled with mostly the naughtiest of kids, and that's not usually the case," said Principal Kathy Longe.

Many times, students arrive because they've fallen far behind in accumulating the number of credits needed to graduate.

Some come from broken family situations where attending school is not a priority. Other times students have no one to blame but themselves.

At Ortega, all get a chance to move forward in spite of the challenges they face.

But there is little coddling here. Students learn soon after arriving that with Principal Longe, if you mess up, second chances are rare.

Longe knows the drill, having attended a continuation high school while growing up in Monrovia.

"Let's just say I didn't apply myself in high school," she said. "Attending the continuation school was a real wakeup call for me, letting me know it was time to get it together."

Longe was able to return to her traditional high school and graduate, but it would be 20 more years before she would complete her college degree and enter the education field.

"I loaded trucks for a while and worked as a dental assistant while we raised our family," she said.

She's been the principal at Ortega for four years.

"We run things here like a regular high school," she said.

Ortega students must pass the California High School Exit Exam and fulfill all of the other district requirements to graduate.

That's often tougher at Ortega High than most schools, but success stories far exceed failures.

And students, with the help of dedicated teachers, staff and an extraordinary principal, get the opportunity to put their past behind them as they hold their futures firmly in their own hands.

Call columnist John Hunneman at 951-676-4315, ext. 2603 or hunneman@californian.com.