GILROY
– Two Gilroy schools could win an award placing them head and
shoulders above other elementary schools in California. Luigi Aprea
and Antonio Del Buono elementary schools qualify for the California
Distinguished School Award, which recognizes strong, well-rounded
community schools with first-rate
students, teachers, administrators and parents.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Two Gilroy schools could win an award placing them head and shoulders above other elementary schools in California. Luigi Aprea and Antonio Del Buono elementary schools qualify for the California Distinguished School Award, which recognizes strong, well-rounded community schools with first-rate students, teachers, administrators and parents.
Qualifying for the Distinguished School award shows “that all students are achieving,” Superintendent Edwin Diaz said. “And that (the schools) have the systems and programs in place that would generate further improvement and ensure that all kids, regardless of their background, achieve at high levels.”
Schools across the state vie for the prestigious award, which is given to elementary and secondary schools in alternating years. Fewer than 5 percent of California schools are recognized each year, according to the California Department of Education.
To qualify for the award, schools must meet student achievement requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, based on standardized tests administered each spring.
Qualifying schools may then submit an application to the state demonstrating that they offer students a rigorous, standards-based academic program. The application focuses on six areas that examine school achievement from different perspectives. The areas scrutinize: how the school monitors itself, how student test scores are used; whether the school offers a comprehensive curriculum that is aligned to state standards; professional development; student support services; and school community engagement.
“They do a self-assessment of how well they feel they’re doing in each of those areas and submit evidence to document what they’re doing … to improve performance,” Diaz said. “In order to have a high-performing school you have to be pretty strong in these six areas.”
Luigi and Del Buono plan to submit their applications in December. If they make it pass the first round of cuts, a state team will visit each site between February and April 2004. The winners will be announced April 20.
If either school is granted the award, it will hold the Distinguished Schools title for four years.
Two GUSD schools have won the honor in previous years: Gilroy High School in 1994 and Glen View Elementary School in 1997.
The program has changed since those schools were awarded, Diaz said, to focus more on student achievement. Luigi Aprea has qualified and applied for the award once since that re-focus, but no other GUSD school has qualified until this year.
