NEWS RELEASE -- State Business Group Honors 45 Schools in San Diego Unified

NEWS RELEASE from the San Diego Unified School District, May 9, 2012

STATE BUSINESS GROUP HONORS 45 SCHOOLS IN SAN DIEGO UNIFIED

California Business for Education Excellence Looks at Achievement Gap
Reduction, Student Achievement

SAN DIEGO -- A leading California business group has recognized 45 San
Diego Unified schools as being "bright spots of excellence," with
positions on its annual Honor Roll.

California Business for Education Excellence, a group whose members
include the Bank of America, Blue Shield of California, Macy's and Webcor
Builders, designated 21 San Diego Unified schools as Star Schools, which
are high poverty, high performing, achievement gap closing schools.
Another 24 schools were named Scholar Schools, identified as high
performing schools without significant levels of low-income students. Nine
schools on the Honor Roll were named STEM Schools for their high
performance in math and science.

"It's especially gratifying for the students, teachers and staff to be
recognized for reducing the achievement gap and being high-performing
schools," said Superintendent Bill Kowba. "These are key areas that are
the focus of the Board of Education and our staff and it's good to have an
independent organization verify the success in these areas."

The following schools were on the Honor Roll.

-- Star Schools -- high poverty, high performing, achievement gap closing
schools: Angier, Birney, Crown Point, Cubberley, Edison, Ericson,
Florence, Garfield, Green, Hardy, Jones, Kimbrough, Ocean Beach, Pacific
Beach, Sandburg, Sherman, Vista Grande, Wegeforth, Zamorano elementary
schools; Language Academy and Mira Mesa High School.

-- Scholar Schools -- high performing schools without significant levels
of low-income students: Benchley/Weinberger, Bird Rock, Curie, Dailard,
Dingeman, Doyle, Grant, Hearst, Holmes, Jerabek, Kumeyaay, La Jolla,
Marvin, Miramar Ranch, Scripps, Sessions, Silver Gate, Sunset View,
Tierrasanta, Torrey Pines elementary schools; Marshall and Standley middle
schools; La Jolla and Scripps Ranch high schools.

-- STEM Schools -- Honor Roll schools with highest performance for math
and science: Angier, Birney, Ericson, Garfield, Green, Hardy, Pacific
Beach, Sandburg, Vista Grande elementary schools.

³We must change the conversation in public education from being about
failure to one that focuses on replicating the success of schools like
those on the Honor Roll,² said Greg Jones, CBEE Chairman. ³These schools
are not making excuses about their performance and are overcoming
challenges and obstacles to improvement every day. Our goal is to
highlight their results so they can be copied in other places.²


The Honor Roll list grew from 1,315 schools in 2010 to the current 1,614
for 2011. The number of Honor Roll Star (high poverty, high achieving)
schools increased from 478 in 2010 to 527 in 2011. For San Diego Unified,
the 2011 list honored 45 schools, up from 28 in 2010, not including
charter schools. In the program's first year, 2005, just six schools were
on the list. A full list of the Honor Roll schools and the STEM Honor Roll
can be found at: www.cbeefoundation.org/honor_roll.html.

"These schools are the bright spots of excellence in efforts to raise
student academic achievement and close persistent achievement gaps," said
Jim Lanich, California Business for Education Excellence president. "By
highlighting them, recognizing their achievement and giving them a voice
we hope other schools can learn from them and replicate their proven
practices throughout the state."

The annual Honor Roll award is made possible with support from numerous
businesses and organizations including State Farm, Macy¹s, Edison
International, Wells Fargo, Southern California Auto Club, Enterprise
Rent-A-Car, the California Business Roundtable, and several private
foundations. Chevron Corporation provided specific support in the creation
of the STEM Honor Roll.


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Jack Brandais | Communications Department | San Diego Unified School
District | (619) 725-5570 (Desk) | (619) 607-0477 (Cell)

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