Idyllwild Town Crier Online

News & Features
From the Idyllwild Town Crier weekly newspaper, 12.20.07 edition.

Idyllwild School earns state
academic honor

By J.P. Crumrine, Assistant Editor

Idyllwild School has been named a 2008 Title I Academic Achievement Award school. Idyllwild is one of only 239 schools throughout California, and the only school in the Hemet Unified School District (HUSD), to earn this distinction.

“This is exciting,” said Dr. Emily Shaw, Idyllwild School principal. “I had no idea we were in contention.”

“Idyllwild elementary has met the award’s rigorous criteria and is to be commended. Your efforts are narrowing the achievement gap in your school community,” wrote Jack O’Connell, state superintendent of public instruction, in his letter to Dr. Shaw last week announcing the award.

This awards program recognizes only schools receiving federal Title I funds for socioeconomically disadvantaged students. The schools must demonstrate that all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California’s academic content standards.

The criteria to qualify for the award have become more rigorous each year. Title I schools must demonstrate the achievement level of twice the school-wide Academic Performance Index (API) growth target, meet all significant subgroup targets, and achieve twice the API growth target for the socioeconomically disadvantaged subgroup for two consecutive years. Schools also must have made adequate yearly progress for two years in a row, and at least 40 percent of the enrolled students in each school must meet the poverty index.

This year, for the first time, Idyllwild’s API of 818 exceeded the state goal of 800. The overall student body and the subgroups all exceeded their measurable objectives for 2007.

Title I is a part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and is the largest federally-funded program in the country. It is designed to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged students. Of more than 9,000 schools in California, more than 6,000 of them are Title I schools.

“This is representative of the quality school we have in this town,” commended Bill Sanborn, HUSD trustee. “It’s a great staff and great administration. I’m glad my kids are in that school. For a little school, it does very well.”

Of the 239 academic achievement schools, 13 are in Riverside County this year. Val Verde Unified School District had four separate schools earn this distinction. For the 2007 award, Riverside County had 12 schools honored, including Bautista Creek from HUSD.

All the awardee schools will be honored at a ceremony during the state Title I conference on April 21 and 22 in Century City.

J.P. Crumrine can be reached at jp@towncrier.com.

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