Anzar High School has been invited to apply for California
Distinguished School status, a prestigious award given to top
schools throughout the state.
Hollister – Anzar High School has been invited to apply for California Distinguished School status, a prestigious award given to top schools throughout the state.
The award recognizes excellence in academics, student achievement and school culture.
“It’s a tremendous honor for us to be picked because it’s very difficult to become distinguished at the high school level,” said Jackie Muñoz, superintendent of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District.
On Monday, a team from the County Office of Education will visit the San Juan Bautista school to verify that the information the school presented to the state is accurate. The group, comprised of Office of Education officials and representatives from other schools, will look at everything from test results and curriculum to instruction, factors that are considered for the award. They will also interview teachers and administrators and visit classrooms.
Anzar, which opened in 1994 and has slightly under 400 students, received a 7.5 score out of a possible 8 points when first evaluated by a team from the California Department of Education. If the County Office of Education concludes all the information is accurate, the school will be honored at a blue ribbon ceremony by California Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell in April.
Only five percent of California schools receive the award each year, which is in part based on criteria established by the federal No Child Left Behind standards. This year, 218 high schools throughout California were eligible for the award and 100 were selected to be assessed by an outside team.
The criteria include Adequate Yearly Progress or AYP, which measures the progress of all schools and the Academic Performance Index or API, a score based on student performance on numerous state tests.
The high school had the highest API growth of any school in the county in 2004, gaining a whopping 53 points over the previous year. Although the award would not bring money to the school, it is good public relations and a pat on the back from the state for a job well done.
“It’s a notice to the community the school has an excellent program,” said Charlene McKowen, principal of Anzar High School.
Among other factors considered for the award are school culture, leadership opportunities and student assessment, said McKowen.
“That means the way students are being evaluated makes sense; they are not being tested on something they haven’t learned.”
Other schools that have received the California Distinguished School award include Sunnyslope Elementary, Marguerite Maze Middle School and San Benito High School.
Karina Ioffee covers education and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach her at (831)637-5566 ext. 335 or kioffee@freelance news.com
