11 campuses named Distinguished Schools

State officials have recognized 11 local elementary schools as 2010 California Distinguished Schools.

Statewide, the annual awards program cited 484 public elementary schools for academic achievement and reduction of the achievement gap among students.

“We’re thrilled to win this award,” said Deborah Cuevas, superintendent of the Briggs School District and principal of Olivelands School. The small campus became a distinguished school for the first time this year.

“It ... shows that our dedication and hard work has paid off,” Cuevas said. Students and staff cheered when she told them about the recognition at a special Monday morning flag salute.

Other Ventura County schools recognized this year are Brookside in the Oak Park Unified School District; Santa Rosa Technology Magnet in the Pleasant Valley School District; Thille and Bedell in the Santa Paula Elementary School District; Arroyo, Crestview, Santa Susana Elementary and Vista Fundamental in the Simi Valley Unified School District; and Elmhurst and Poinsettia in the Ventura Unified School District.

“These schools have persevered despite state budget cutbacks that have cut deeply into the budgets of local school districts,” state schools Superintendent Jack O’Connell said in a news release Monday.

The selection process required schools to provide an in-depth description of two “signature” practices that could be replicated elsewhere and that directly related to the success of students, state officials said.

A database of those practices is expected to be available on the California Department of Education website later this spring.

The voluntary recognition program is in its 24th year, according to the California Department of Education. State officials choose elementary schools one year and secondary schools the next. Winners will be recognized June 4 at an awards ceremony in Anaheim.


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Comments » 13

mlmlcc#219658 writes:

Here are the API scores for those schools. Remember that 800 is only 75%, or a C, and that is the state's generous minimum target.

Which ones would you say are really excellent scores? Would your boss call you a distinguished worker if you did C work?

Brookside, 944 or 96% or an "A"

Santa Rosa Magnet 914, or 89% or "B+"

Thille 827, or 78%, or "C+"

Bedell 860, or 82%, or "B-"

Arroyo 860, or 82%, or "B-"

Crestview 810, or 76%, or "C"

Santa Susana 819, or 77%, or "C"

Vista 952, or 94% or "A"

Elmhurst 820, or 77% or "C"

Poinsetta 878, or 84%, or "B"

800 is 75%, then add or subtract 1% for every 8 points over or under. Every 80 points is just 10%. So 920 is 90% or the cut-off for A-, and 840 is 80% or the cut off for B-, and 760 is 70%, or the cutoff for C-. Below 760 is a D+. Below 720 is a low D.

Who are you voting for in the primary June 8th for State Supt of Instruction?

Diane Lenning is a great candidate out of the 12 running.

But the CTA union wants teachers to vote for pro-communist Sen Tom Torlakson. Do you want the State Schools Chief to be someone who voted FOR allowing members of the communist party to teach in public schools? It is lawful for them to teach in private schools, but they can't collect a government paycheck, and be a member of the Communist Party. But the teachers union and Tom Torlakson want to change that law.

Be very careful how you cast your vote in the primary June 8th.

Remember Lady Di, the candidate with 4 n's in her name. She will put civics and government requirements BACK in high school. SSPI is at the end of the ballot.


mlmlcc#219658 writes:

Here's the link to the Dept of Ed list for the whole county, for the API Academic Perfomance Index scores.


mlmlcc#219658 writes:

I missed the school in the first part of the story, the small school in Briggs District. Congratulations on their 60 point increase. Olivelands had 97 students in the testing, and they improved more than 7% from last year. They are now over the minimum target, and can take a breather.

Olivelands 806, or 75.75%, or a "C"

Keep studying. Keep improving. Great accomplishment for those students. I'm glad to see that.

mlmlcc#219658 writes:


Here is a link to pro-communist Tom Torlakson's website. He is having a fund raiser in Concord in May at the Plumbers and Steamfitters union hall, starting at$6,500 for sponsorship.

Do those union workers know that he is OK with letting communists teach in public schools? He voted YES on SB 1322 in Aug 2008.

So did another SSPI candidate. Sen Gloria Romero also thinks it is just fine to open the doors and let in Communist members in our public schools.

I say, let them teach in another state, or try to get a job in a private school. Taxpayers shouldn't be giving our money to members of the Communist party who want to end private business in California. Can you imagine your kids being told that you are evil because you are an entrepreneur, or work for a private business?

Tell Tom Torlakson and Gloria Romero to take their style of government over to Venezuela, and maybe they can get a job with Uncle Hugo Chavez. But we don't want them and their communist friends here in our schools and public universities and colleges.

Why isn't the newspaper covering this? Only Glenn Beck has mentioned it in March.

nito writes:

good ol' america

jbostic326#700956 writes:

I find your analysis of the API scores for these schools to be very simplistic. I think that percentiles would be a better statistical representation of the performance of these schools. As an example, if you scored 1410 on the old SAT format out of 1600, you would have achieved 89% as a percentage score. By your measuring stick, this score would be a "B+." However, in 1996, this score would have placed you in the 97th percentile of all test takers. In other words, you would have outperformed 97 out of every 100 people with your 89% score. If you took the schools you listed, and used percentiles, many would look much more impressive. Additionally, if you compare those schools to other schools with similar demographics, you could further glean meaningful information. It might be that a school with a 900 API is underachieving when compared to other schools with similar demographics. Additionally, a school with an 800 API might score in the 2nd percentile of schools with similar demographics.

It would be nice if this article could be read for what it is; a nice accomplishment for the parents, students, and staff of the schools mentioned. Instead, you use this story for your political agenda.

legalokie writes:

What, none of the schools are in Oxnard.

Lets_Blame_Europe writes:

WOW! none of the schools are in Thousand Oaks.

liberty writes:

I believe most T.O. Schools have already become distinguished schools.

eggsorpancakes writes:

I did laugh last night when I saw that Santa Susana Elementary was on the list. It's one of the WORST elementary schools in Simi...the one that everyone tries to get out of using "school of choice". Apparently any school can become "distinguished"...

murphybrandy72 writes:

The scores don't mean anything when you go to College. Get over it. Only individual grades are meaningful.

uprooted writes:

As someone who has actually worked on the application for getting a school recognized as a CA Distinguished School, I know that the recognition is not just based on academic scores, although that is a large part. Focus also includes community involvement, parental support, district support, programs run by the school to assist students with academic, social, and behavioral issues, and so forth. Basically, it is a way to recognize how a school works with the whole student and how it supports the children in their care.

Then again, I did this about 10 years ago, so maybe the application has changed since then...

CaliforniaTeacher writes:

I once taught at a ''distinguished school''. It wasn't so distinguished the next year and hasn't been since. I think before you get the award you should have demonstrated that you can continue at the level that earned you the award.


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