Eight schools in the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) are among the statewide Honor Roll schools announced by California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE).
Schools receiving the distinction from California’s business community have demonstrated consistently high academic achievement and have made significant progress toward closing achievement gaps among all of their students. The CBEE Honor Roll is made up of two different awards, the Star Schools Award (395 schools) and Scholar Schools Award (909 schools). Long Beach has four schools on each list.
“We’re delighted to have so many schools on this prestigious Honor Roll,” said Christopher J. Steinhauser, LBUSD superintendent of schools. “Business leaders know high-quality schools when they see them, so this is truly an honor. It’s also testament to the tireless work of our teachers, support staff, administrators, parents and many others.”
The school recognition program uses hard data and individual school and student subgroup performance data based on the California Standards Tests and California High School Exit Exam to evaluate academic performance.
CBEE Star Schools are those with significant populations of socio-economically disadvantaged students that have shown a significant increase in grade-level proficiency over four years for all groups of children. Star Schools in the Long Beach Unified School District include the California Academy of Mathematics and Science, Emerson Parkside Academy (elementary), International Elementary School and Mann Elementary School.
CBEE Scholar Schools are those that show significant levels of academic achievement but do not have a significant socio-economically disadvantaged student population. Scholar Schools in LBUSD include Gant Elementary School, Lowell Elementary School, Naples Elementary School and Newcomb Academy (K-8).
“We know from the success of these schools that it’s possible for all schools and all students in California to reach high levels of academic achievement and to close achievement gaps,” said Kirk Clark, executive director of CBEE. “By highlighting Honor Roll schools, recognizing their achievement and giving them a voice we hope other schools can learn from these schools’ proven ‘best practices’ and achieve the same results.”
“Schools on the Honor Roll dispel the myth that certain students can’t reach grade-level proficiency and that schools with a challenging student population won’t be able to succeed,” said Greg Jones, CBEE Chair. “These schools are overcoming challenges every day. What has impressed the business community the most this year is the large increase in the nearly 400 high-poverty schools that are exceeding expectations.”
More Information
www.cbee.org
