Santa Margarita Catholic High School

The entrance exam for the 1995-96 school year at Santa Margarita Catholic High School will be given Saturday. The exam, which will take place from 7:45 a.m. to noon, will be given at the school, 22062 Antonio Parkway. Registration is required. For more information, call the school's admissions office at (714) 858-3350, Ext. 125.

She watched "The Silence of the Lambs" as a girl and so related to Jodie Foster's character that she wanted to become an FBI agent and go after psychopaths. Instead, Ally Jacobs became a police officer at UC Berkeley, handling mostly garden-variety cases until one day in August when she helped crack the case that ended the 18-year kidnapping nightmare of Jaycee Lee Dugard. On Monday, the 1994 Santa Margarita Catholic High School graduate returned for alumni career day and told students that her brush with fame stemmed from trusting that voice in her head that told her that something wasn't right about the man later arrested and charged with Dugard's kidnap and rape.

A teacher at Santa Margarita Catholic High School has been arrested on 10 counts of child molestation after a parent tipped off authorities, an Orange County sheriff's spokesman said Thursday. Michael Karl Sandoval, a ceramics teacher, was arrested Wednesday at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, where he had admitted himself to the psychiatric ward, sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.

Raymond R. Dunne, 57, was named principal of Santa Margarita Catholic High School, the Diocese of Orange said Monday. The school community was in turmoil this year after the unexplained firings of two popular teachers and the announced resignation of the principal, Brother Lawrence Monroe. Monroe, who was placed briefly on administrative leave for not reporting parental concerns regarding the behavior of one of the fired teachers, has said he will retire at the end of the school year.

A popular South County Roman Catholic high school teacher has been fired after concerns were raised about student trips to Europe that he led. Students and parents at Santa Margarita Catholic High School learned Monday by e-mail that Eric Hansen had been fired three days earlier by the Diocese of Orange. Diocesan spokesman Ryan Lilyengren, who provided The Times a copy of the e-mail, said he could not discuss details of Hansen's departure.

She watched "The Silence of the Lambs" as a girl and so related to Jodie Foster's character that she wanted to become an FBI agent and go after psychopaths. Instead, Ally Jacobs became a police officer at UC Berkeley, handling mostly garden-variety cases until one day in August when she helped crack the case that ended the 18-year kidnapping nightmare of Jaycee Lee Dugard. On Monday, the 1994 Santa Margarita Catholic High School graduate returned for alumni career day and told students that her brush with fame stemmed from trusting that voice in her head that told her that something wasn't right about the man later arrested and charged with Dugard's kidnap and rape.

Santa Margarita Catholic High School will host an information night for incoming freshman students and their parents for the 2001-02 school year at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 in the school gymnasium. Santa Margarita Catholic High School is at 22062 Antonio Parkway. Information: (949) 766-6000.

Ryan McDonell, a resident of the city and a student at Santa Margarita Catholic High School, was selected from 7,600 students in the country as a finalist in the National Merit Scholar Program, officials said. Scholarship winners will be judged on academic and extracurricular achievements along with personal attributes, official said. The winners will be chosen in April and May.

Raymond R. Dunne, 57, was named principal of Santa Margarita Catholic High School, the Diocese of Orange said Monday. The school community was in turmoil this year after the unexplained firings of two popular teachers and the announced resignation of the principal, Brother Lawrence Monroe. Monroe, who was placed briefly on administrative leave for not reporting parental concerns regarding the behavior of one of the fired teachers, has said he will retire at the end of the school year.

The Orange County district attorney's office filed a felony weapons possession charge Friday against the son of the principal at Santa Margarita Catholic High School, a private school in Rancho Santa Margarita. Robert Hemenway, 18, a former student at the school, had a gun in his car while parked in the school's parking lot in January, said Tori Richards, a district attorney spokeswoman.

As parents at a South County Roman Catholic school have grown increasingly riled by the mysterious dismissals of two popular teachers, a church official said Tuesday that the allegations against the two men did not involve sexual conduct with a minor. Maria Rullo Schinderle, general counsel for the Diocese of Orange, declined to comment further about the dismissals of Eric Hansen and Gregory Rhodes, teachers at Santa Margarita Catholic High School.

A popular South County Roman Catholic high school teacher has been fired after concerns were raised about student trips to Europe that he led. Students and parents at Santa Margarita Catholic High School learned Monday by e-mail that Eric Hansen had been fired three days earlier by the Diocese of Orange. Diocesan spokesman Ryan Lilyengren, who provided The Times a copy of the e-mail, said he could not discuss details of Hansen's departure.

The principal of Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Tuesday announced his plans to resign at the end of the school year, the latest upheaval at the southern Orange County parochial school. The announcement comes about four weeks after Brother Lawrence Monroe was briefly placed on administrative leave for not reporting parental concerns about a teacher's behavior.

A learning specialist at a Roman Catholic high school in Rancho Santa Margarita was arrested Thursday on suspicion of sexually assaulting one of his students. Evan Molina, 23, was taken into custody about 3 p.m. at his home in Laguna Niguel after a student at Santa Margarita Catholic High School, where he had been teaching for 11 months, reported the alleged assault to her parents, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

When beloved priests are revealed to be child molesters, Roman Catholic parishes, schools and dioceses face an uncomfortable choice: to remove existing tributes to the clerics and erase glowing references in local histories -- or explain to victims and critics why they continue to honor men who also were pedophiles.

A mountain lion's 3 a.m. sojourn near a high school in Rancho Santa Margarita was caught on a security video last week, but city and wildlife officials said there is no cause for concern. "We expect mountain lions in the area, and mountain lions will be in the area," said Steve Edinger, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game. "There's not necessarily a lot of concern." A camera installed by the Dove Canyon Homeowners Assn.

Ryan Mannix, of Santa Margarita Catholic High School, has been chosen to attend this year's National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C., one of 350 students nationwide chosen for the honor. During the weeklong conference, students will meet with officials from the three branches of the federal government, as well as with diplomats and the national press corps. Mannix will also participate in a mock session of Congress to build debate skills, as well as other activities.

A learning specialist at a Roman Catholic high school in Rancho Santa Margarita was arrested Thursday on suspicion of sexually assaulting one of his students. Evan Molina, 23, was taken into custody about 3 p.m. at his home in Laguna Niguel after a student at Santa Margarita Catholic High School, where he had been teaching for 11 months, reported the alleged assault to her parents, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Who better to lead the renaissance of a high school football program than a quarterback named Michael Angelo? "I haven't painted too many pictures," joked the unassuming Santa Margarita senior. "I'm not a good artist." But Angelo and his teammates were forced to work with a blank canvas after a series of changes rocked Santa Margarita last spring, threatening the stability of one of Southern California's most successful programs.

Call it telepathy or a sixth sense. Whenever Tannen Wels and Matt Basin are on the soccer field together, they can read each other's mind. "We just look at each other and know," Basin said. Since fate intervened and brought them together as 8-year-olds, they've been best friends and inseparable teammates. "They're more like brothers," said Basin's mother, Patsy. "We love Tannen. It's like he's a member of the family. I can't ask for a better influence on Matt."