Monday, May 12, 2014

Title I Academic Achievement Award goes to three SD Unified schools

Barnard and Sherman elementary schools, along with the Health Sciences High charter have been named 2013-14 Title I Academic Achievement Award Schools by the California Department of Education.

To receive this distinction, the school must demonstrate that all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California's academic content standards. Additionally, the school's socioeconomically disadvantaged students must have doubled the achievement targets set for them for two consecutive years.

Barnard Asian Pacific Language Academy is located in Pacific Beach, moving this school year from its original Pt. Loma location. The school offers language immersion Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Japanese languages, as well as an international cultural outlook.

Sherman's comprehensive instructional program focuses on 21st-century skills, in which students are prepared for life in a global society by receiving a strong foundation in English and Spanish language arts (via a 50/50 dual-immersion program), mathematics, science, history and social science, cultural understanding, technological and media literacy, and visual and performing arts.

At Health Sciences High charter, students work with healthcare professionals through job shadowing and internships to explore real-world applications of their school-based knowledge and skills as well as future career choices.

State Superintendent Tom Torlakson said the schools have accomplished much under challenging circumstances.

“Their administrators and teachers are committed to giving their students every opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills that will help them in school and throughout their lives,” he said.

The Title I Academic Achievement Award is given to schools receiving federal Title I funds as authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Title I, the single largest federal educational program for K-12 public education, assists schools in meeting the educational needs of students living at or below the poverty line. Of the approximately 10,000 schools in California, more than 6,000 of them participate in the Title I program.

Around California, just 106 schools were named 2013-14 Title I Academic Achievement Award Schools.