Educators laud achievements

With the news about the $13.5 million in budget cuts slated for Newport-Mesa schools, there have been some bright spots on the academic landscape: The same two elementary schools once again have won the Title I Academic Achievement Award.

Test scores of students in second through sixth grades at Victoria and Killybrooke elementary schools showed “consistent marked improvement” in reading and math, principals said Friday, acknowledging how proud they were of their teachers, students and parents.

In all, 238 California schools were honored with the award Thursday by State Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. Victoria and Killybrooke were the only schools in the district and among 22 in Orange County to earn the award.

For Killybrooke, it was its third straight year; for Victoria, its sixth straight year.

To even qualify for the award, schools must first receive federal Title I dollars, whose purpose is to help low-income students achieve academic success under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The criteria to qualify for the Title I Academic Achievement Award have become more rigorous in recent years, O’Connell said.

To meet the criteria, the school must demonstrate that all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California’s tests.

Additionally, the school’s socio-economically disadvantaged students must have doubled the achievement targets set for them for two consecutive years. The magic test score is 800. At Killybrooke, the school scored a combined 829 last year. At Victoria, it was 876.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Kathy Sanchez, principal at Killybrooke, which has little more than 400 students, nearly half of whom are Latino. “Every day, our motto is to prepare our kids for college, and that’s what we do. That’s our focus.”

At Victoria, the enthusiasm that came with the news of the award was just as great for Linda Tenno, the principal.

“We just have the most wonderful staff of teachers you could ever have,” she said of the school, with more than 400 students, nearly half of whom are Latino. “Everybody’s on board with the idea that everything we do is based on what’s best for the kids.”

Principals at both schools acknowledged that the millions of dollars in cuts and the subsequent laying off of nearly 80 teachers might impact them, but they said the effects would be “minimal.”

Most of the teachers who are going to be laid off are fresh out of college, but at Victoria, most of the teaching staff is senior, said Tenno.

At Killybrooke, the layoffs could affect the school more, but no decisions have been made yet and Sanchez pointed out that “everything is still up in the air.”

Regardless, both Sanchez and Tenno said the schools would be able to step up and fill the holes where needed in the event that they should they occur.

The 2009-10 awardees will be honored at a reception and banquet at the Disneyland Hotel on April 2.