Educating the whole child includes a robust physical education. Studies show that physical fitness enhances mental fitness and learning. All of Berryessa's schools are taking physical fitness seriously, regularly participating in walk-a-thons, Jump Rope for Heart, and other events. These activities are above and beyond the traditional PE classes that are a part of California's curriculum. I want to recognize several schools for their extra commitment to fitness. This morning, folks from the district and Ruskin Elementary School were in Sacramento to receive the grand prize in the 2011 Governor's Physical Fitness Challenge competition. Participant schools encourage regular physical activity by their students and log exercise time. Ruskin students had 100% participation this year and logged nearly 159,000 active days. As a result, they have been awarded $100,000 worth of gym equipment, which will be installed at the school. A local celebration and awards ceremony will be held in the near future.Ruskin wasn't the only participant in the Governor's challenge this past year. Brooktree and Noble Elementary Schools both also finished in the top 10 statewide. Congratulations to all 3 schools.
The playground is an important place for students to get their daily exercise. Noble Elementary School was one of 4 schools in the entire country to be awarded a free playground courtesy of Old Navy and Terracycle. The playground is made in part out of recycled used flip-flops. This past Saturday, the school held a very successful and enjoyable community build event. Parents and district staff were on hand to build the playground and kids will start using the new equipment this week.Noble is also participating in Earthquakes Fit. Earlier this week, representatives from the San Jose Earthquakes soccer team came to the school for a kick-off assembly. Third and fourth graders will log their exercises and after 5 weeks, a closing assembly will hopefully include a visit from an Earthquakes player.Continuing on the fitness theme, Noble's PTA, with the help from other district schools, is organizing the first Berryessa 5K Walk/Run. Join me on Sunday morning, October 9, as we run through Penetencia Creek Park and the surrounding community, beginning and ending at the Berryessa Community Center.
Congratulations to all the staff of the Berryessa Union School District on another year of stellar growth on the API test. Overall, the district showed a 20-point gain, reaching a score of 843. Twelve of our 13 schools met their API targets and 11 are now above 800, which is the state target. In addition, all of our subgroups showed gains and 11 of the schools had the subgroups meet their targets. This tremendous performance is testament to the hard work of all teachers, staff, administrators, and of course our wonderful students.
Despite the gains, the federal targets set by No Child Left Behind continue to grow at such a rapid pace, that even with the growth our district showed, more of our schools are falling into the Program Improvement category. Simply put, even though our district is meeting California standards for exemplary performance, we are receiving what amounts to a failing grade from the federal government. The chart on the right (from the Mercury News) shows the increasing statewide proficiency levels and the much steeper national targets.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) looks not just at overall school performance, but sets targets for all subgroups, including racial minorities, socio-economically disadvantaged, and English language learners. Understanding how our schools are performing with each of these categories of students has helped staff focus on students who have traditionally struggled. As a result, strategies are being implemented to help narrow the achievement gap. This is valuable information for our schools.
However, the punitive nature of the accountability system removes school site flexibility and results in severe sanctions that are not always best for our schools. Since Congress appears unlikely to act on solving the problems with NCLB, California's Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson is seeking a waiver from the program. Here are a couple of articles discussing Torlakson's feelings:
Back to Berryessa's latest scores. Four of our schools achieved API gains of 20 points or more; Laneview, Majestic Way, Sierramont, and Vinci Park. A special congratulations should go to Vinci Park, who achieved one of the highest single year gains anywhere in the state, with scores going up by 48 points! Great work to everyone in the district who work hard to educate the children of Berryessa.
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