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Rating the High SchoolsBy Cathy Cassinos-Carr |
From August 2008
Rio Americano graduate Jenny Griffin
Roy Wilcox
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Can a high school’s greatness be plotted on a graph, boiled down to a simple algebraic equation? Probably not. And yet when trying to decide whether your teen is better off attending a large public high school or transferring to, say, a smaller private school, you need some reliable tools of measurement—something more than a rah-rah recommendation from a well-meaning friend or neighbor. That’s where we hope to help. In the pages that follow, we lay out the raw data for 65 of our region’s public high schools. Statewide rankings. API scores (which take into account STAR testing and other assessments). SAT scores. Graduation rates. Enrollment figures. We also provide a guide to some of the area’s largest private high schools, including similar data, plus tuition costs—for many families the pivot point that decides whether private school is even an option. But numbers aren’t everything, which is why we invited local high school seniors to reflect on their experiences, from what they thought of their teachers to how well prepared they feel for college. Getting the straight scoop from students is just as important, we think, as graduation rates or API scores. Finally, a word of encouragement: While there’s no way to paint a smiley face on the budget crisis, with a potential $4.8 billion cut from education statewide, there are glimmers of hope. Even as local teachers and administrators are pink-slipped and programs are eliminated, the Sacramento area is teeming with innovative new schools—one for every kid, it seems. In the Sacramento City Unified School District alone, a cluster of small, themed high schools offer unique educational alternatives, while traditional high schools are reinventing and modernizing themselves with the addition of small learning communities. Another finding: The four-county region offers more private high schools than we knew existed. Whether you want your teen at an all-boys, an all-girls, a co-ed college prep, a special ed or an Adventist school, these and more options abound. But enough of our lecture. It’s time to start reading. How They RankThe following is a list of area high schools ranked from 10 to 1, according to statewide ranking based on API scores. We include the API Base score, which reflects a school’s student performances on the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program examinations that are held every year. In most cases, the 2007 API Base score is reported. Statistics provided by the California Department of Education / Compiled by Elizabeth Marxen The TermsAPI: Academic Performance Index. Determined by converting into points a student’s scores on the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) examination and the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE), and then averaging all student scores. School scores range from 200 (low) to 1,000 (high) and are used to assess performance. West Campus High School Davis Senior High School Folsom High School Oak Ridge High School Leonardo da Vinci High School Ponderosa High School Rocklin High School Granite Bay High School Natomas Charter Whitney High School Bella Vista High School Pleasant Grove High School Del Oro High School Rio Americano High School Union Mine High School El Camino Fundamental High School Colfax High School Mira Loma High School Small Learning CommunitiesKids can get swallowed up by large, traditional high schools. So five years ago, the Sacramento City Unified School District set out on a mission: to create smaller schools where teens could reap the benefits of a more personalized, career-oriented education. Today, Sacramento City Unified boasts seven small, themed high schools, including America’s Choice (which stresses hands-on work and “real-world matters”) and the Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High School. The newest, Social Justice, opens in September. In addition, five conventional high schools—McClatchy, Hiram Johnson, Kennedy, Luther Burbank and Rosemont—are home to small learning communities, or SLCs, catering to everything from health care and business information and technology to law and performing arts. “The research was clear that the large traditional high schools—what we call the ‘industrial model’—wasn’t working for kids,” says Maria Lopez, district spokeswoman. “We needed to develop a model where they would no longer feel like a cog.” Called “Education for the 21st Century,” or simply “e21,” the revolutionary system-wide redesign is a partnership with LEED: Linking Education and Economic Development. Grant money for the program came from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Early results are promising. Graduation rates are up (from 76.1 percent in 2002–03 to 86.8 in 2005–06), and the dropout rate has decreased by 6 percent. Students attending these schools still enjoy the same broad-based curriculum they would at any other school. The career tracks are a value-added feature, giving students a chance to focus on individual interests and adding relevance to everything they learn. “Kids can integrate what they’re learning [in the career tracks] and integrate it with the curriculum they’re learning in the classroom,” she says. “They can see the relevance of what they’re learning.” Roseville High School El Dorado High School Franklin High School Placer High School Woodcreek High School Del Campo High School Elk Grove High School Center High School IB ProgramsAP programs are widespread in the Sacramento region. But IB—International Baccalaureate—programs are slowly beginning to build steam: Just this year, Oakmont and Granite Bay high schools became the first schools in Placer County to be accepted into the IB program, making them the third and fourth area high schools to offer IB (the others are Mira Loma and Luther Burbank). According to the International Baccalaureate Organization’s official website, the diploma program for students ages 16 to 19 is a “demanding two-year curriculum leading to final examinations and a qualification that is welcomed by leading universities around the world.” (There also are “Primary Years” IB programs for students ages 3–12 and “Middle Years” IB programs for those ages 11–16). “We’re in a period of globalization where kids are going to be competing with kids who not only went to school in California but from all over the world,” says Ron Severson, executive director of curriculum and instruction for Roseville Joint Union High School District. “IB offers a much more global perspective than students would get in traditional American education.” For more information about the IB program, visit ibo.org. Oakmont High School Foresthill High School Galt High School Sheldon High School Casa Roble Fundamental High School Golden Sierra High School John F. Kennedy High School Winters High School Futures High School Shenandoah High School Inderkum High School C.K. McClatchy High School Advanced PlacementIf it seems you’re hearing the term AP more than you used to, rest assured it’s not your imagination. AP—advanced placement—are college-level courses offered at the high school level, giving students the opportunity to challenge themselves academically and, potentially, kick up their GPA a notch. (Classes are weighted on a five-point scale.) And since a 4.5 GPA looks better to college admissions officers than does a mere 4.0, savvy Gen Yers are jumping on the AP bandwagon with the same kind of fervor they reserve for text messaging. But here’s the kicker. While you’d expect to find an AP bonanza at top-notch schools like Granite Bay (where 16 AP subjects are offered), even some of the area’s lower-ranked schools are ramping up their offerings, and not in a shy way: Grant Union, for example, has eight AP courses on tap for fall. That, plus the fact that students may request an intradistrict transfer (or, in some cases, just sign up for an individual course) if their school doesn’t offer the AP class of their choice, makes the program a viable option for most any student who is willing to take on the challenge. The challenge: As important as GPA“Personal challenge” was one of the main reasons he took seven AP classes during his years at Christian Brothers, says David Tracy, who also benefited from the GPA boost (4.5) that helped him get into UCLA, where he is headed this fall. “When I took AP world history, it was purely for competition—to satisfy my competitive side,” he says. Tracy also enjoyed being treated “more like an adult in those AP classes than in my regular classes. You’re not given ‘baby’ homework every night. It’s your responsibility to do as well as you want.” That kind of spunk, regardless of GPA, always looks good in the eyes of college admissions officers, says Dennis Carocci, the recently retired associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction for El Dorado Union School District. “Graduating with a 4.46 does impact a student’s ability to apply to prestigious colleges and gain acceptance to them,” he says. “But they’re also looking for students who have challenged themselves with rigorous coursework.” A teacher recommendation or minimum grade in the preceding course is typically required to enroll in an AP course, according to Carocci. Jenny Griffin, a Rio Americano grad, says she believes that taking seven AP classes “demonstrated to colleges that I was willing to work extremely hard and to challenge myself.” It paid off: In addition to Occidental College, where she starts this fall, Griffin was accepted by a number of prestigious schools, including USC and UC Berkeley. But that wasn’t her main reason for taking AP, she says. “I chose to take these classes because I was genuinely interested in the subject matter, and AP classes allowed me to study these subjects in more depth.” English literature, U.S. history, biology, calculus and U.S. government are some of the most commonly offered AP courses, according to local curriculum directors. A total of 37 courses across 22 subject areas are offered by the College Board, the governing body of the AP program. College creditGetting college credit is another reason to take AP classes. But that requires a good score on the AP exam (there’s one for every subject), which is based on a five-point scale (a “five” is tops). A minimum score of three is generally what’s needed to be eligible for college credit. But it doesn’t apply across the board. “Most colleges and universities will give you some kind of credit with a score of three, but every college treats the courses differently,” says Ron Severson, executive director of curriculum and instruction for Roseville Joint Union High School District. “An AP history class might earn you three units in one school and six semester units in another.” This is where most people get confused—even whiz kids like Tracy. “I really wish I knew more about how that works,” says Tracy, who still isn’t sure which college classes he might be excused from, and which not. “But I assume I’ll go to a counselor when I get to UCLA and find out.” Clearer-cut are the costs—$84 per AP test—which, in the case of top students like Tracy or Griffin, can really add up: Seven tests at $84 a pop amounts to $588. But some money spent now can theoretically save big bucks down the road. “Some students are entering college with a semester or even a year of class credit from AP testing,” says Carocci. “From a parent’s perspective, that’s a money saver.” Even those who opt to skip the exams can enjoy the GPA advantages and other benefits of AP, says Severson. “Learning to study at that level, being able to read and write at a college level, is a huge advantage for students today. To compete economically, to be competitive any more, kids need to be able to access a higher level of learning, and with AP, high schools help to accommodate that.” Cordova High School Sutter High School Foothill High School Laguna Creek High School Mesa Verde High School River City SeniorHigh School Rio Linda High School Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High School Valley High School Monterey Trail High School Florin High School Pioneer High School Highlands Academy of Arts and Design Esparto High School Sacramento New Technology High School Rosemont High School Woodland Senior High School Natomas High School San Juan High School Sacramento High School/St. HOPE Academy Encina Preparatory High School Luther Burbank High School The Met Sacramento Charter High School Hiram W. Johnson High School Grant Union High School GENESIS High School Schools with no rank available:School of Engineering and Sciences Vista del Lago High School Getting Into University of CaliforniaWhile many local high schoolers cried this spring as the rejection letters piled up, Dennis Zheng did some rejecting of his own. Accepted by even the University of California campuses known as the toughest to get into—Berkeley and Los Angeles—Zheng turned around and rejected them: He begins study at Harvard this fall. But in a year when a record-breaking number of UC applicants led to a heartbreaking number of rejections, the 2008 Granite Bay High School grad knows he was one of the lucky ones. “When you look at the numbers, it’s mind-boggling how many people apply,” he says of the UC system, considered by many California high school students (and their parents) as “it”: the ultimate in-state college dream. This year, the population bulge of the “baby boomlet” made entrance to the UC system more competitive than ever. UCLA and Berkeley accepted less than one-fourth of the freshmen hopefuls who applied. Closer to home, students had about a fifty-fifty chance of getting into UC Davis, where the freshman acceptance rate was 52.4 percent. Making the gradeGetting into UC has never been so competitive. So just what does it take? There are three ways for California residents to become UC eligible for freshman admission: • Eligibility in the statewide context: The route most students take, requiring a high school diploma (or equivalency) and the satisfaction of three components: The subject requirement (that infamous alphabet soup known as the “A–G” subjects; see sidebar); the scholarship requirement, which can be met by having the right combination of GPA (3.0 is minimum) and college test scores; and the examination requirement—the ACT Assessment plus Writing or the SAT Reasoning Test, plus SAT Subject Tests in two different subjects. • Eligibility in the local context: An option open to students who rank in the top 4 percent of their graduating class (as determined by UC) and fulfill certain subject requirements. • Eligibility by examination alone: High scores on ACT or SAT tests may qualify a student for this option. Location, location, locationQualifying is not a breeze. But here’s the good news: Every California resident who is UC eligible is guaranteed a spot in the system. The bad news: It may not be the spot they want. “They want the college on the beach,” says Linda Drever, guidance counselor at Granite Bay High School. “Well, they might not get the college on the beach. But there’s almost always room at UC Merced or Riverside, and at a lot of the state colleges, too.” Students rejected from the UC campus of their choice are advised of such options. But it’s not usually what they want to hear. “In our letter to denied freshmen, we let them know that other UC campuses might have room for them,” says Pamela Burnett, director of undergraduate admissions at UC Davis. But that’s apparently little consolation to the broken-hearted; Burnett’s office hears from a lot of students who can’t get over the fact that their UC Davis dream didn’t come true. Insider tipOne thing students can do to improve their chances, says Burnett, is to remember that college admissions officers are not mind readers. Coloring in the details can help. “If a student says they’re president of the senior class and that’s it, how are we to know that they helped to bring about a policy change or that they changed the culture of the student body through their leadership?” she asks. Some students such as Zheng understood that well enough to ace the applications game, at least for the most part: Of the 19 schools he applied to, he was only rejected by two: Stanford and Columbia. His advice for other kids? “It comes down to a balance between the numbers, your extracurricular activities and being able to write well—beyond the formulaic writing of high school,” he says. “I think I had pretty good essays, and that really helped.” Hot Trend: Private College CounselorsWhen their son Keith was in his freshman year at Kennedy, Myra and Dean Okasaki knew it was time to start looking college-forward. But they felt paralyzed by the endless red tape. “We were so out of touch with the college requirements, and the various testing and filing deadlines,” says Myra. “We felt we would not properly advise Keith.” Their solution: Hire a private college counselor—one who would hand-hold their son every step of the way, from planning his high school curriculum to helping him evaluate college choices to guiding him through the application process. With working parents too busy to deal with these dizzying details—not to mention the student-counselor ratio of 455-to-1* in California public high schools—it’s no wonder local consultants report that business is booming. What private counselors can do“Applying for college is a maze, it is complicated—it is a lot of details,” says Jill Yoshikawa, one of four college advisers at Creative Marbles Consultancy in Sacramento. With budget slashes often meaning fewer counselors in California schools, Yoshikawa says, the need for a firm like Creative Marbles, which opened six years ago, is even more acute. It was with Yoshikawa’s help that Keith Okasaki found his way to UC San Diego on a golf scholarship. “Jill kept me aware of deadlines and important dates throughout high school, so I didn’t miss anything,” says Okasaki, a sophomore this fall. “When it came time to submit my college applications, she thoroughly read and reread my essays to make them the best possible. She really helped to make the process so much easier.” Andrew Elmets, a 2008 Jesuit grad, credits his private counselor, Margie Amott, for helping him to get into USC. “Without Margie, I never would have known what dates to take the SAT,” says Elmets. “I would not have known about the college interview, which I believe was a major factor that played into my acceptance.” School counselors tried to help, Elmets said, but “they have a lot of students to counsel. I just felt like I was not receiving the individual attention I needed.” Such attention comes with a price: Amott’s “full program,” which includes one-on-one sessions for as long as it takes to get the job done, is $1,765. Other counselors, such as Yoshikawa, charge by the hour, which in her case runs an average of $150. School counselorsBut not all families can afford such help. Fortunately, some local schools have answered the need by appointing a dedicated college adviser. “I tend to be an extra resource,” says guidance counselor Debbie Austin, who calls herself “the college person” at St. Francis. “We felt it was great to have an additional resource so parents didn’t need to have to hire a private outside counselor.” While the school’s other counselors also provide college help to students, it is Austin who serves as the central resource. Other local high schools—Elk Grove, Davis and Rocklin, to name a few—offer a full-fledged college and career center on campus, where students can check out SAT prep books, surf colleges online, pick up applications or pick the brains of the staffers who run the center. But not all schools are well-funded enough to have such programs—and even when they do, not all kids are resourceful enough to take advantage of them. Enter the private counselor. “I have always had a demand for my services—even when I first started my business 12 years ago,” says Amott. These days, she says, she gets so many inquiries that she has to refer some out. High School Seniors: In Their Own WordsKatina Feil, Christian Brothers High School Unfortunately, though, shrouding the cool staff is a virus plaguing some of the students: lack of school spirit. There’s not enough to motivate the athletes to excel or persevere. I’ve watched fewer than 20 sports games total! The composition of students makes up for this, however. Florin has to be the most diverse campus in the Elk Grove Unified School District. One of my passions is making people laugh, so the smorgasbord of people allowed me to diversify my humor’s portfolio. The greatest thing Florin has done for me— its purpose—is make me worldlier. Peter Wagner, Jesuit High School My experience at Bella Vista was completely atypical of this expectation; however, it was consistent with the reputation of my school. It is the social aspect of Bella Vista, combined with its academic success, that makes it really stand out. Other than a few splintered groups, there are almost no cliques at Bella Vista. This solidarity is evident at breaks and lunch, when there is just one large group of students in the quad rather than smaller groups spread out over the campus. Academics don’t get much better than at Bella Vista in the San Juan District, as we proudly boast about last year’s API score. I participated in the honors program and found almost all of my teachers to be positive, stimulating and challenging. The spirit of the students and parents for our school at athletic events and rallies is unparalleled and I don’t think can be beat anywhere in Sacramento. Bella Vista was an amazing and unique high school experience, and one that I wouldn’t trade for anywhere else. There are a few things I wish to address. First, the teachers here listen to what issues you have and clarify anything you need. The teachers know you personally, and there are strong student-teacher relationships. Not only are the teachers completely brilliant, but the students and classroom environment are incredible. All of the students know each other, and we help each other out when we can. Project Based Learning gives us experience working with people we do not know and to create a product, just like in the business world. With PBL, we have a wide range of different projects, most we do hands-on, and most projects are ones other high schools would never even think about performing, like the 1984 project created this year. The only issue is this is a small school. Anything you tell your friends, by the next day it’s spread like wildfire. Still, anything great comes with a price. advertisement
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Reader Comments:
Ranking by test scores seems logical, however, it's only a superficial glance at our high schools. I just graduated from one of the top ranked schools, yet many of my teachers were sub-standard and even emotionally abusive. I don't see those factors being valued. A major problem with California's education system is it's strong emphasis on numbers instead of substance.
I agree with the student above. Test scores, and how the schools manipulate them, are only a small part of the picture. Did you know that gifted students are often grouped and placed in schools where the neighborhood scores are low to bring up the starr test results? Who does this benifit? We should be finding out how students learn best and group the learning styles together. Why do students progress grades by age and not by their ability? Students do not all learn at the same rate. Can you emagine a company that groups and promotes people because of their age? And to the student above good luck in college. You get it--please go into education--we need you!