For Santiago High School, it's finally time to go home.

After spending four years housed at an intermediate school campus, Santiago teachers and students now have a place to call their own.

"We're real excited about it," said Cindy Harris, a Santiago parent and president of the school's Parent Teacher Student Association.

By the time the first bell sounds on Sept. 7, the sparkling new campus will be swarming with about 2,500 students.

They'll discover a campus whose two-story buildings are coated in brown stucco with green trim and red accents. They will find at least one computer in every room, science labs on the first floor and regular classes on the top floor of the four buildings. And they'll be able to enjoy lunch at four fast-food restaurants -- each with its own specialty.

Santiago's history dates to 1995.

Corona-Norco Unified School District officials had built an intermediate school near South Main Street and Foothill Parkway. But crowding at Corona and Centennial high schools led officials to put the intermediate school on hold and temporarily turn the campus into a high school.

Teachers and the 1,600 students at the original Santiago knew that their campus would eventually arrive.

"They knew (it would be) some day, but not what day," said Ted Rozzi, the district's director of facilities.

Construction workers broke ground for the new Santiago in May 1997. The $44 million campus is one of the last paid for entirely by the state, Rozzi said. The money came from Proposition 203, a $3 billion bond measure passed by California voters in 1996 to build and modernize schools. Today, state officials require school districts to pay for half the cost, he said.

Now, only landscaping and minor work is left to complete at Santiago. Its former home re-opened in July as the Citrus Hills Intermediate School envisioned years ago.

The switch generated some debate as school officials grappled with how to fill the new high school campus.

Santiago had been a magnet program, bringing students from across the Corona-Norco district to focus on science and engineering careers. But last December, the Corona-Norco school board backed away from that concept. They voted to give students who live near the new Santiago priority in attending the school.

That meant students living outside the Santiago boundaries could attend only if there is extra space. Those with siblings at Santiago will be first in line. Any more spaces will go to students whose names turn up in a lottery. The decision upset some parents, who argued that the district should keep the magnet and make the school open for all the district's students.

In the end, Santiago's boundaries were set to include the Susan B. Anthony, Foothill, Home Gardens, El Cerrito and part of Stallings elementary school areas. Students who went to the former Santiago's magnet program for science and engineering will be allowed to graduate from Santiago. And the emphasis on science and engineering will continue.

Rising from a former citrus grove, the new Santiago stands at the corner of Foothill Parkway and Rimpau Avenue, about two miles away from its old home.

The brown earth tones painted on the walls make the school blend in with nearby homes. But other features give it a modern feel.

The bright green roofs glisten in the sunlight. Red and green tiles dot the hallways. Skylights bring sunshine into the two-story buildings.

Though every building has two stories, looks can be deceiving. The campus is built on three terraced levels. The campus' elevation drops 70 feet from the administration building to the rear parking lot, Rozzi said.

The layout includes an administration and fine arts building at the front with a semicircle of four classroom buildings surrounding a central courtyard. Restaurants jut from the courtyard-facing corners of each of the classroom buildings. Three feature different geometric motifs. One is built with triangles, another based on circles and the third is oval. The fourth resembles a one-room schoolhouse.

The restaurants will do more than serve tasty food.

Their design should relieve long lunch lines seen at the original Santiago, said Meg Chesley, director of Child Nutrition Services for the district.

When students tire of the pizza, hamburgers, Mexican food or Chinese cuisine served from the restaurants, they can head a little further from the campus hub to the Shark Tank cafeteria, named after the school's mascot, the Sharks.

There, two saltwater aquariums, an undersea mural complete with sharks and seaweed and a mannequin dressed in scuba gear will greet them.

"We're off the beaten path here so we want kids to find us and then have a good time with it," Chesley said.

Last week, painters drew in starfish and coral on the mural.

"I wish they'd have done this at my high school," said Hugh Schone, whose Fine Finishes painters did the project.

Teachers, who have already been assigned to new rooms, can't wait to use other features.

English department Chairwoman Sue Schaeffer looks forward to more storage space, a view of the city through her second-story windows and a classroom sink. Then there's the air conditioner control knob.

"I'm thrilled to be able to control my air conditioning again," Schaeffer said, noting that air conditioning at the former campus was centrally regulated.

Schaeffer looks forward to having a real home for her students.

"It was so exciting just to see our name on the gym floor," she said.

Mark Acosta can be reached by e-mail at macosta@pe.com or by phone at (909) 737-1366.

Published 8/15/1999