[SUSD] – Saugus Union School District announced Wednesday that five elementary schools have been selected by California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE) to receive the title of 2011 Honor Roll school.

Schools receiving this distinction from the California business community have demonstrated consistent high levels of student academic achievement, improvement in achievement levels over time and reduction in achievement gaps among student populations.  For High Schools, the Honor Roll recognition also includes measures of college readiness. CBEE Honor Roll is comprised of two different awards, the “Star Schools” Award (527 schools) and “Scholar Schools” Award (1,087 schools).

CBEE Star Schools are those with significant populations of socio-economically disadvantaged students that have shown a significant increase in grade-level proficiency over time.  Cedarcreek Elementary is recognized as a CBEE Star School.  CBEE Scholar Schools are schools that are showing significant levels of academic achievement, but do not have a significant socio-economically disadvantaged student population. Bridgeport, Charles Helmers, Mountainview and Tesoro del Valle are recognized as CBEE Scholar Schools.

“We are very proud to be recognized by California’s business community as an Honor Roll school,” said Joan Lucid, Saugus Superintendent.  “Our teachers and administrators work tirelessly to keep the focus on high expectations and student academic achievement and to continuously improving our practices.  This hard work and dedication is paying off for all of our students, no matter their background.”

The annual Honor Roll award is made possible with support from numerous businesses and organizations including State Farm, Macy’s, Edison International, Wells Fargo, Southern California Auto Club, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the California Business Roundtable, and several private foundations.  Chevron Corporation provided specific support in the creation of the STEM Honor Roll.

“We must change the conversation in public education from being about failure to one that focuses on replicating the success of schools like those on the Honor Roll,” said Greg Jones, CBEE Chairman. “These schools are not making excuses about their performance and are overcoming challenges and obstacles to improvement every day. Our goal is to highlight their results so they can be copied in other places.”

The Honor Roll is the premier school recognition program that uses only academic achievement data showing improved academic growth over time and a closing of the achievement gap.

“These schools are the bright spots of excellence in efforts to raise student academic achievement and close persistent achievement gaps,” said Jim Lanich, president of CBEE. “By highlighting them, recognizing their achievement and giving them a voice we hope other schools can learn from them and replicate their proven practices throughout the state.”

The Honor Roll list grew from 1,315 schools in 2010 to the current 1,614 for 2011.  The number of Honor Roll STAR (high poverty, high achieving) schools increased from 478 in 2010 to 527 in 2011.  A full list of the Honor Roll schools and the STEM Honor Roll can be found at: www.cbeefoundation.org/honor_roll.html.

About California Business for Education Excellence

The mission of California Business for Education Excellence (www.cbee.org) is to use the power of data to improve public education and close the achievement gap.  Since 1998, CBEE has worked to focus businesses around a common agenda for high performing public schools leading to increased baccalaureate degrees and economic productivity.  CBEE serves as the business community’s leading voice in education in California.