FALLBROOK -- An elementary school at Camp Pendleton has been chosen to receive a prestigious "Golden Bell" award for a program that consolidates various kinds of extracurricular support for its students, officials said Thursday.

Mary Fay Pendleton is being honored by the California School Boards Association for its "All Aboard" program, in which teachers and school staff members help students and their families get help with a range of issues, from eye exams to counseling.

Principal Lynne Gilstrap described the program as "a huge referral resource" that encompasses 15 agencies and nonprofit groups such as the YMCA and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

The school often identifies students who have a need that can't be fulfilled at school, she said, so the school has become an advocate of sorts, alerting outside groups to such needs.

"I can make a phone call and say, 'This one needs food, this one needs shoes, this one needs glasses, this one needs counseling,'" Gilstrap said.

The school board association's Web site says its Golden Bell awards are given to exemplary programs that are "essential to support teaching and learning."

Mary Fay is part of the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, and district spokesman Jim Whitlock said this week that the award is fitting recognition of the school's teachers and administrators.

"We're quite proud of the achievement," said Whitlock.

Last year, the district received a Golden Bell for its Parents as Teachers program, which provides training and support to families with children 5 years old and younger.

Mary Fay Pendleton is located in the heart of the Marine Corps base, surrounded by 900 homes, Gilstrap said.

Given the school's location and the intense family issues that accompany military service, she said she has always wanted the campus to be a hub of the neighborhood, where families could go for help in just about any situation.

"Whether you're for or against the war -- and I really don't care -- it's the kids who are in the middle of this mess," she said, adding that the deployment of parents is the most difficult issue facing all of the 800 children at Mary Fay. "How do you tell a kid, 'I'll see you next year' when they're in the second week of first grade?"

If the All Aboard program sounds a little amorphous, that's because it's more of a philosophy than an established program, Gilstrap said.

"It's not like a reading program, or a counseling program," said Gilstrap. "It's almost a philosophy or a feeling you get when you're here. All of us are on board the same philosophical train, if that makes sense -- we know what we need to do, and … just do it."

For example, she said, "I had a little one who came in the other day just looking a little unkempt."

Gilstrap mentioned the girl to a woman who had recently donated $100,000 to the school's parent-teacher association.

"The next day, the woman walked in with 10 new outfits, dropped them in my office and walked out," she recalled. "Shoes, the whole deal."

Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 740-3516 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.