Named one of America’s best high schools by Newsweek magazine,
Gilroy High is ramping up the rigor of its course offerings to keep
pace with other top performing schools.
Named one of America’s best high schools by Newsweek magazine, Gilroy High is ramping up the rigor of its course offerings to keep pace with other top performing schools.
“I want people to know that Gilroy High School is not a ghetto school,” said Principal Marco Sanchez. “We have something for everyone here.”
About 1,600 schools – about the top 6 percent – made the list. They were selected on the basis of how hard they challenge their students with college-level courses and tests, by taking into account the size of the school and the number of Advanced Placement tests taken. GHS came in at number 1,423, a ranking Sanchez said he was pleased about, but hoped to improve in the coming years.
“I’d like to climb higher,” he said. “I’d like to crack the top 1,000. We can hopefully pull that off next year.”
Schools in surrounding communities, such as Morgan Hill, Hollister and Watsonville, did not make the list. However, several in San Jose and North County did. Three California schools – including Pacific Collegiate School, a public charter school in Santa Cruz which was ranked 19th – made the top 20. This is the first year GHS made its way onto the list, Sanchez said.
By working with the College Board – the organization that runs the Advanced Placement program – Sanchez took a look at the profile of other high-performing high schools, including Elk Grove High School south of Sacramento, where he used to be assistant principal. One thing they all had in common: a menu of about 20 Advanced Placements courses from which their students could choose, Sanchez said.
This past school year, GHS offered 11 Advanced Placement courses. Next year, the school will replace AP biology with AP chemistry – which already has two sections filled – and introduce AP physics, studio art, world history, a second year of calculus called calculus BC and French in the following years.
“We need to have opportunities for students,” Sanchez said. “The intent is to give students exposure to college-level courses. When you have courses like these, it shows this institution has college in mind.”
Sanchez said he hopes adding new courses will encourage not only the students who are already likely to enroll in AP classes to take more, but also those students who wouldn’t think to enroll in an AP class to give one a try. In 2009, 299 students enrolled in AP courses and a total of 578 tests were taken.
For the school’s AVID and Cal-SOAP programs – which target low income and first-generation prospective college students – enrollment in an AP course is mandatory, Sanchez said. GHS needs to continue to challenge those students, while increasing its opportunities for other high-achieving students, he said.
“Otherwise we’ll lose them to private schools or the Dr. T.J. Owens Gilroy Early College Academy,” Sanchez said. “We want those students.”
Where GHS’s five-year average pass rate met or surpassed the national average on five exams – biology, macroeconomics, English literature, environmental science and Spanish language – the school lagged far behind in calculus and statistics. Only 25 percent of students who took the statistics test and 36 percent who took the calculus test passed, compared to 59 and 60 percent nationwide.
In an effort to provide students with the background necessary for advanced math courses, Sanchez plans to begin stepping up his school’s math requirement freshman year. By phasing out the school’s remedial math offerings and funneling as many ninth graders as possible directly into Algebra I, starting next school year, they will be better prepared to take higher level courses in their junior and senior years, he said.
Historically, students have excelled particularly on the Spanish language and English literature tests, with pass rates of 84 and 83 percent in 2009. Scores for the tests taken this past spring are not yet available.
In addition to introducing more AP classes to Gilroy High, Sanchez said he wants to see higher pass rates in the future. AP classes are “pathways to collegiate success,” he said. “Students want more course offerings and we’ve got to have a program that’s competitive, that gives them some challenges.”
