June 7, 2010
Duarte Elementary Schools Receive Top State Education Honors; Valley View Named California Distinguished School for 2010; Royal Oaks Receives Title I Academic Achievement Award
Two Duarte Unified School District elementary schools, Valley View and Royal Oaks, have received top recognition from the state of California.
Valley View Elementary school has been selected as a California Distinguished School for 2010, a designation given by the California State Board of Education to schools that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs. Valley View was one of approximately 400 elementary schools out of 6,000 in the state to achieve the status of California Distinguished School following a rigorous selection process.
Royal Oaks Elementary School received the Title I Academic Achievement Award for 2010. It is the second year that Royal Oaks Elementary has been honored with the award by the California Department of Education.
“We are very proud of the accomplishments of our schools, teachers and students. These are challenging times for education. But these honors prove that our schools, with the support of a great community, are more than up to the challenges. Duarte is a community that is working together on all levels to achieve excellence in education for our students,” said Superintendent, Dean Conklin.
To receive the Title I Academic Achievement Award, a school must demonstrate that all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California’s academic content standards. In addition, the school’s socio-economically disadvantaged students must have doubled the achievement targets set for them for two consecutive years. About 50% of Royal Oaks School’s 563 students fall under the Title I category, according to principal Janice Kolodinski.
Royal Oaks School’s Academic Performance Index (API) rose 7 points to 829 from 2007 to 2008, and increased 14 points from 2008 to 2009 to an 850 API. The statewide performance target was 800.
“Identifying at risk students and providing specific interventions that target skills based on frequent assessments is the key ingredient that has helped us to close the achievement gap,” said Kolodinski. A Learning Lab program is incorporated into the regular school day. Small groups of students at a time work with a reading specialist for 30 minutes three to four times a week to improve reading fluency, writing, and reading comprehension. Over 50 kids a day go through the Learning Lab.
Kolodinski also credits in-class intervention to help students with English language arts and math, and the Mind Institute program that utilizes an interactive music and math program to enhance students’ reasoning and mathematical thinking. Think Together, an after school program, offers homework support, physical fitness, nutrition, and enrichment programs. About 100 students participate in the program funded with grants through the Think Together Foundation.
Eligibility for California Distinguished School status is based on federal and state criteria including Academic Performance Index (API) and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). API measures the academic performance and growth of schools on a variety of academic measures. Valley View’s API score increased 42 points in 2009 to 826.
“We’ve had growth every year but this amazing growth was wonderful,” said Valley View School Principal, Robin Nelson.
The award identifies and honors those schools that have demonstrated educational excellence for all students and progress in narrowing the achievement gap. This year’s selection criteria was more stringent than ever, noted Nelson. Schools were required to provide an in-depth description of two signature practices, an application review, and site visit by state officials to validate the practices.
Intentional Instruction is one of Valley View’s signature practices. “Nothing happens by accident,” notes Nelson. Teachers and administrators meet on a weekly basis to collaborate on best practices, analyze data, plan interventions and share teaching strategies. The principal meets with the teachers every week to talk about instruction.
Valley View offers standard based technology in every classroom utilizing laptops, mounted overhead projectors, surround sound. Instant access to the Internet on the big screen is just one keystroke away, “a powerful tool to assist English learners,” said Nelson. Time is carved out of every school day for teachers or instructional aides to work with kids in small group settings on targeted, focused interventions. Reading support is provided to every student in the school.
Valley View is the third school in the Duarte Unified School District to be designated with the elite status of California Distinguished School. Duarte High School was named a Distinguished School in 2007. Beardslee Elementary was bestowed the honor in 2004.
