Business group salutes 'Excellent' schools in SD Unified

California Business for Education Excellence has named 52 San Diego Unified schools and seven of its charter schools as high-performing public schools and a spot on its 2013 Honor Roll.
The organization named 2,099 Honor Roll schools overall, including 1,022 higher poverty schools that are increasing academic performance and closing the achievement gap, and 100 STEM schools that excel in science and mathematics.

The Star Schools for 2013 are Adams, Alcott, Angier, Barnard, Bay Park, Benchley/Weinberger, Cadman, Chesterton, Chollas/Mead, Crown Point, Doyle, Encanto, Fletcher, Green, Hickman, Holmes, McKinley, Oak Park, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Sandburg, Sherman, Toler, Vista Grande elementary schools. K-8: Grant, Longfellow. Middle schools: Challenger, Correia, Lewis, Pacific Beach, Standley. High Schools: Kearny Digital Media and Design, San Diego High International Studies, San Diego SCPA. Charter schools: Harriet Tubman Village Charter, Health Sciences High, King-Chavez Primary Academy, Preuss UCSD, San Diego Global Vision Academy. Star schools are high poverty, high performing, achievement-gap-closing schools.

Honor Roll schools are Bird Rock, Curie, Dailiard, Dingeman, Hearst, Kumeyaay, La Jolla, Miramar Ranch, Scripps, Sessions, Silver Gate, Sunset View, Torrey Pines elementary schools; Marshall, Muirlands middle schools; La Jolla, Scripps Ranch high schools; and Einstein Academy, Old Town Academy K-8 Charter, Urban Discovery Academy Charter schools.  Honor roll schools are high performing schools without significant levels of low-income students.

STEM schools are Alcott, Benchley/Weinberger, Green, Holms, Sandburg and Vista Grande elementary schools. These schools were recognized for having Honor Roll schools with higher poverty and higher performance in math and science.

In a letter to Superintendent Cindy Marten, Dr. James S. Lanich, President and Chief Executive Officer of California Business for Education Excellence, said this year's was one of the largest ever and shows great improvement in California's schools.

"Our heartfelt congratulations and thanks to you and your schools for a job well done," he said. "After an extensive analysis of student achievement data for every public school in California, these schools stood well above the rest in raising their students to grade-level proficiency and beyond."

Schools receiving this distinction from the California business community have demonstrated consistently high levels of student academic achievement, improvement in achievement levels over time and reduction in achievement gaps among student populations. For high schools, the Honor Roll recognition also includes measures of college readiness. 

Over time, CBEE has identified a common set of success factors in higher performing Honor Roll schools and districts. These include high expectations for all students; ongoing collaboration among teachers to improve practice; targeted use of data to pinpoint challenges and monitor progress; continual intervention for struggling students; and mastery of content knowledge and pedagogical practices.

Visit the California Business for Education Excellence website for more on the program.