A simple trip to San Benito County’s Anzar High School proves
that this is no average educational institution
– in fact, it is quite worthy of the praise it has received as a
2005 California Distinguished School.
A simple trip to San Benito County’s Anzar High School proves that this is no average educational institution – in fact, it is quite worthy of the praise it has received as a 2005 California Distinguished School.
Anyone who has visited Anzar or has children attending there know this is a school of distinction. The mission is simple: They teach students how to think. And the results are phenomenal, as evidenced by the fact that the entire graduating class of 2004 was college-bound.
As a public school, Anzar has broken the mold in what is normally found at public schools across the country.
The teachers talk of the lack of traditional hierarchy in the administration as an empowering element.
Principal Charlene McKowen knows her staff and the issues the face daily both in and out of the classroom. She teaches a class every semester – the subject depends on where the need is – and she’s been known to answer the phone for a busy receptionist, take a message for another employee and even schedule a sporting event at the small school.
Likewise, the teachers do more than just teach. They all serve as an academic counselor to students at the school, helping them plan for the future and solve their current problems.
And though the school itself is small by modern standards at 315 students, it’s accomplishments are quite large. In an era of school’s struggling under the yoke of standardized testing for school accountability, Anzar seems to do just fine.
The Distinguished School award is largely based upon California’s Standardized Testing and Reporting program, also known as the infamous STAR tests. Of California’s 2,300 high schools, only 465 were eligible to apply for the Distinguished School award and only 191 of those joined Anzar in the honor.
Of course, all this recognition doesn’t mean Anzar outshines every other school in the county, but they’re certainly doing something right and other schools could do well to take note.
And that truly is something worth thinking about.
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