Four Title I Clovis, CA Schools Earn Academic Achievement Awards

Nelson, Miramonte, Sierra Vista and Weldon Elementary Schools in Clovis, CA were among 310 California schools recently named winners of the 2005-2006 Title I Academic Achievement Awards.

"This award is a prestigious recognition for each school that has worked hard to improve their students' academic achievement in spite of their disadvantaged backgrounds," said Jack O'Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. There are almost 5,900 Title I schools in California.

The purpose of the Title I Academic Achievement Awards Program is to recognize schools that are making great strides in ensuring all of their students are reaching toward the goals of California's educational standards.

The four winning Clovis, CA schools have similar philosophies about achieving academic success. They haven't just worked hard in order to earn this one award. Each school fuels the need to keep goals and expectations in the forefront of students' minds to develop the mentality of success.

"We are constantly making progress. Our strategies are working, but we are not satisfied. We will re-evaluate to maximize efficiency in the future," said Kevin Cookingham, GIS of Sierra Vista School in Clovis, CA.

Cookingham attributes much of the school's API success to the "Cat Chats" of the principal, Jackie Burgan. "The principal meets individually with each teacher to strategize on how to maximize efforts based on the students' strengths and weaknesses. The teachers then work with those weaknesses to help them become stronger in those areas for testing," he said.

Being a Title I school, Sierra Vista has many intervention programs, however Cookingham insists that the programs mean nothing without the knowledge and commitment of the teachers. Instead of offering generalized intervention programs, the teachers specifically work on the needs of each student.

Title I is part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 that provides funds for educationally disadvantaged students, including the children of migrant workers. Title I funding was put into place in order to improve the academic achievement of those students.

EXCEL (Excellence: A commitment to every learner) is the program that Ray Lozano, principal of Weldon School in Clovis, CA, relies on to help his students reach new heights and achieve success on a daily basis. "It's a research-based system designed to best instruct the kids at their level of instruction based on weekly assessments," he said. The most needy kids have a 1:5 teacher ratio every day for one hour.

"California has high education standards and we're proud of our efforts," said Lozano. "This award shows that we're in a handful of schools making a big difference in the kids."

The qualifications for the award are not easily attainable. Title I schools must demonstrate the achievement level of twice the school-wide Academic Performance Index (API) growth target and twice the API growth target for the socio-economically disadvantaged subgroup for two consecutive years. Schools must also have made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for two years in a row, and at least 40 percent of the enrolled students must meet the poverty index.

Nelson has improved significantly over the past three years. Their scores from 2002 to 2005 have jumped an impressive 97 points, from 744 to 841. Miramonte boasts similar scores. From 2003 to 2005, their scores have skyrocketed from 745 to 828, and their target for this year is wrapped in orange around their students' wrists - "Sky High API - Goal 845".

"Our success is based on shared commitment to excellence, constant monitoring of student progress and utilizing the information from various data sources to target students' learning needs," said Mary Betry Bass, principal of Nelson School in Clovis, CA. "We share best practices with each other, encourage home-school partnerships and collaborate among and across grade levels."

Schools that have attained the awards serve as models and help provide support for those schools that will need program improvements due to their lack of progress.

Miramonte is certainly a spirited role model for other schools. Plastered within the cafeteria walls are banners proudly displaying awards the school has received over the years. The Title I Academic Achievement Award will soon join the ranks of the other prized accomplishments.

"(The award) is a validation of the educational system in place cooperatively with a unified team," said Dave Bower, principal of Miramonte School in Clovis, CA. A constant theme reiterated among students and faculty is "It's who we are and what we are." Bower whole-heartedly attests that this attitude is what helps spur the positive outlook and climbing API scores among his students. "We never settle for second best," he said.

Clovis, CA Title I School
API Scores

Miramonte
2003- 745
2004- 802
2005- 828

Nelson
2003- 799
2004- 836
2005- 841

Sierra Vista
2003- 712
2004- 748
2005- 766

Weldon
2003- 766
2004- 788
2005- 815