Three San Ramon Valley Unified School District high schools were recognized as 2021 California Distinguished Schools by the state's Department of Education the district announced on Wednesday, a designation earned for the schools showing significant gains in narrowing achievement gaps.
California, Dougherty Valley and Monte Vista high schools join Iron Horse and Stone Valley middle schools -- which were named Distinguished Schools earlier this year -- in being recognized for high-quality test scores, suspension rates, conditions and climate among other quality school indicators.
"The staff and students at these schools work very hard to create climates where all students feel safe and respected so they are ready to learn," SRVUSD Superintendent John Malloy said in a statement. "Student well-being is a priority and the success being realized by students is the result of collaborative efforts to provide supports and opportunities so every student can succeed at high levels."
Launched as a part of the California School Recognition Program, Distinguished Schools are designed to not only honor California's very best public schools, but to also recognize schools for their exemplary efforts to improve the quality of education received by their students.
The Distinguished Schools Program recognizes schools for their excellent work in closing the achievement gap -- which is characterized as a significant disparity in student achievement between groups according to the California Department of Education -- and achieving exceptional student performance, according to state officials.
"These additional high schools join the ranks of all 2021 California Distinguished Schools who are being recognized for this distinction because of their exceptional record to provide for all students and their commitment to data-driven efforts that prepare students for college and career," California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said in a statement.
Elementary schools and middle and high schools are recognized in alternate years, with awardees holding their titles for two years.
In 2019, Los Cerros, Pine Valley and Windemere Ranch middle schools as well as California High School were all recognized as California Distinguished Schools.
A full list of this year's winners can be found online at www.cde.ca.gov.
Comments
Registered user
San Ramon Valley High School
on Apr 29, 2021 at 8:08 am
Registered user
on Apr 29, 2021 at 8:08 am
This should be an absolute embarrassment for San Ramon Valley Highschool. What is that school doing??? It's well known in the community that SRVHS has an abysmal math department. There have been numerous leadership changes at the school and teachers at that school have been sued for racial discrimination.
What will it take to put SRVHS in the same league as the other highschools in the district? Right now, it's clear SRVHS is the least academic highschool in the district.
Registered user
Monte Vista High School
on Apr 29, 2021 at 10:46 am
Registered user
on Apr 29, 2021 at 10:46 am
I’m not surprised SRVH was not included. This school has been in the news for some horrendous behavior by some of the students. However, even worse was the lack of immediate consequences for the involved students by administrative staff (with one example being the female student that videotaped another female student in the bathroom stall who was allowed to return almost immediately to school - after distributing the video to others - and allowed to participate in her school sports games immediately, until there was a lawsuit from the victim’s family, if I’m recalling this incident correctly.)
Also, I’ve personally experienced the total disrespect of the students towards staff as a substitute teacher, with a double prank played on me by the students my first day of subbing at SRVH several years back. I decided not to return as a sub to this school due to the behavior of the students on my first and last day of subbing there, combined with the history of the bad press and lack of consequences for student behavior by administration.
Academically, SRVH does have less AP offerings than MVHS (it appears to be 22 for SRVH and 28 for MVHS at present, according to their websites). However, I recall that SRVH had AP Physics offered when MVHS didn’t, until a few years ago. Nevertheless, SRVH does appear to have less academically challenging AP courses when compared to MVHS, which is just 3 miles away (22 vs 28).
On a side note, I’m sure there are some excellent teachers and excellent students at SRVH and I’ve heard the performing arts program is excellent. But it’s going to take a lot of work to get this high school to meet the higher standards expected for a California Distinguished School.