The Dr. T. J. Owens Gilroy Early College Academy located on the campus of Gavilan College has been named a “beating-the-odds” school in a new study from WestEd of San Francisco.
The study looked at 1,715 middle and high schools and compared ones with similar demographics. WestEd’s research identified 40 schools that consistently and significantly outperformed other similar schools on the California Standards Test (STAR) and California Academic High School Exit Exam. GECA is one of those schools. Principal MaryAnn Boylan is savoring the moment along with the roughly 250 students at the college prep high school.
“I’m ecstatic,” she laughed.
The study points to the atmosphere within any school as being a key ingredient in getting good academic results. The over-performing schools were from a vast variety of city and suburban settings located in a wide swath of California communities, according to the study.
“School climate appears to be a really promising factor associated with academic success,” said Adam Voight of WestEd. “Regardless of where a school is and the types of students a school serves.”
The School Climate Index was calculated by collating data gleaned from students statewide with the California Healthy Kids Survey. Students from California Public Schools filled out questionnaires that evaluated how safe, supportive and engaging they perceived their school to be; how often they were victims of violence; and the student’s own use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs.
Boylan points to the positive relationship that exists between the students and faculty on the GECA campus as being the linchpin to their success.
“There is an honor code that we live by,” Boylan explained. “The students monitor themselves and have tribunals run by their peers for violating the code.”
A recent visit by representatives from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges also went extremely well, added Boylan.
“WASC is impressed with our students,” she beamed. “We have good things going on here.”
GECA exists in a small collegiate setting in the midst of Gavilan College. The rigorous college prep that students undertake means that some students will graduate high school with as much as the first two years of their college career already finished, according to Boylan. Many students go on to study at some of the most prestigious universities in the nation, she added.
