(April 16, 2007) -- Belmont Shore's Rogers Middle School and ELB/Los Altos Stanford Middle School have been named Distinguished Schools by CA's Dept. of Education. It's the second time the two eastside campuses have won the state agency's top honor for public schools.
The two LB campuses are among 171 schools (76 middle schools + 95 high schools) named 2007 CA Distinguished Schools...and are now able to apply for a National Blue Ribbon Award.
"These schools have shown they are able to meet the challenge of providing their students with the kind of rigorous education that is essential to their future success in the classroom and the workplace," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell in a release referring collectively to the statewide winners.
In the release, Sup't O'Connell described the winning schools as "extraordinary places with devoted teachers, dedicated staff, and motivated principals." The release said Sup't O'Connell called each school’s Principal personally this morning to share the good news.
Rogers Middle School Principal Thomas Huff said in an LBUSD release, "A lot of hours were put into this award application but when the evaluation team comes out and validates what you’re doing, that makes it all worthwhile for staff, students and parents." He added, "The teachers expect good things from the kids, and they came through. They’re in the trenches every day, and they filled out the application. This is only my second year here, so they know the ins and outs of Rogers more than I do."
Stanford Middle School Principal Kathleen Cruz said in the release, "This has been a long time coming, and it’s due to a lot of different people investing in our school over many years. Our staff and parents and kids have worked hard, and we’re excited."
Other L.A. County Distinguished Middle & High Schools included ABC Unified's Ross Middle School, Academy of Creative and Media Arts, Richard Gahr High and Whitney High. To view a complete list of Distinguished Schools by CA Counties, click here
Stanford's and Rogers' Academic Performance Index Scores (856 and 825, respectively) are the two highest among LBUSD Middle Schools (200-1,000 scale; 800 is CA Dept. of Education's "goal"). On API standards, the two schools ranked in the 9th decile (top 11%-20%) among Middle Schools statewide and in the 10th decile (top 10%) among "similar schools" statewide (using CDE determined demographic, economic data).
LBUSD noted that this year's winners represent only about 7% of CA's nearly 2,400 middle and high schools...from which only 478 met eligibility criteria of which 279 submitted an application describing their curriculum, instructional program, support for students and school climate.
Applications were evaluated by the CA Dept. of Education partnered with the CA County Superintendents Educational Services Ass'n and local educators; all nominee schools also had to undergo a site validation visit. Rogers and Stanford will carry the designation of Distinguished Schools until 2011.
A ceremony honoring CA's 2007 Distinguished Schools is scheduled May 18 @ Anaheim's Disneyland Hotel.
