The news is much more good than bad for Gilroy schools in the
latest round of reported Academic Performance Index scores.
Nine Gilroy schools improved their base API scores: El Roble,
Glen View, Rod Kelley, Las Animas, Rucker, Ascension Solorsano,
South Valley Middle School, Gilroy High, and El Portal High. (Luigi
Aprea Elementary wobbled a bit, losing 4 points, but comfortably
maintained its A rating at 856 points.) Congratulations to all nine
schools showing improvement.
1. Nine of our public schools improved their base API scores last year
The news is much more good than bad for Gilroy schools in the latest round of reported Academic Performance Index scores.
Nine Gilroy schools improved their base API scores: El Roble, Glen View, Rod Kelley, Las Animas, Rucker, Ascension Solorsano, South Valley Middle School, Gilroy High, and El Portal High. (Luigi Aprea Elementary wobbled a bit, losing 4 points, but comfortably maintained its A rating at 856 points.) Congratulations to all nine schools showing improvement.
Of those nine, six schools improved enough to meet their API targets: El Roble, Glen View, Rod Kelley, Las Animas, Rucker, and South Valley Middle School. Kudos to all six!
2. Double-digit increases for South Valley, Rod Kelley, and Las Animas
Of these six, three deserve special mention for exceeding their targets by whopping double-digit increases. Rod Kelley and South Valley Middle School each increased its base API by 26 points, to 727 and 715 respectively. Las Animas jumped 35 points, to 771.
Las Animas and South Valley deserve accolades, not only for sheer raw academic improvement, but also for shattering stereotypes. The conventional wisdom, enshrined in California’s “similar schools” ranking, is that poor students cannot be expected to perform as well as rich, that Latino students will not learn as much as whites or Asians.
South Valley and Las Animas do not accept the conventional wisdom. They accept no excuses. They are outperforming richer, paler schools, both within the city limits and in the state at large. In so doing, they are preparing their students for a brighter future.
3. Evaluating what schools are doing right and replicating is key
Celebration is in order, then evaluation. What, precisely, are South Valley and Las Animas doing to achieve such results? The API scores may give us hints of where to begin the search, but overlook no factors: texts, teachers, facilities, discipline, programs, policies, leadership … Is it something as concrete as curriculum? Is it something as intangible as school spirit? How was it done? Can it be distilled? Can it be replicated?
We are happy that Gilroy’s API scores show so much improvement. Though that is cause for celebration, it is not fully satisfying. GUSD must strive to improve until every in Gilroy is learning to his full potential. We are confident that every parent in Gilroy agrees with us.
API scores
n GUSD API scores may be viewed at
