West Creek Academy has been selected by Educational Results Partnership (ERP) and the Campaign for Business and Education Excellence (CBEE) as one of 1,866 public schools in California to receive the title of 2016 Honor Roll school, according to a news release today from the Saugus Union School District.

The Honor Roll is part of a national effort to identify higher-performing schools and highlight successful practices that improve outcomes for students. Schools receiving this distinction from leaders in the California academic and business communities 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. The Honor Roll is comprised of two different awards – “Star Schools” and “Scholar Schools.”

Star Schools are those with significant populations of socio-economically disadvantaged students thathave shown a significant increase in grade-level proficiency over time. Scholar Schools are schools that are showing significant levels of academic achievement, but do not have a significant socio-economically disadvantaged student population.

Newhall Land photo showing the Saugus Union School District’s West Creek Academy in the foreground.

“The motto of the Saugus Union School District is ‘Excellence in Elementary Education, and this award continues that tradition,’” said Superintendent Joan Lucid, Ed.D. “We are proud to have West Creek again recognized by leaders in the California business community as an honor roll school. The administrators, teachers, students, parents and community work hand-in-hand to continuously perform at a high level, and awards like these validate that hard work.”

“We are proud to recognize those schools and school districts who are succeeding in putting their students on a path of productivity that not only leads to success in the classroom, but also prepares them to contribute to and benefit from a more productive economy,” said Greg Jones, ERP and CBEE Board Chairman.

“Leadership from both education and the business community is critical to linking success from one system to the next, and ensuring that students have the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve a college degree and the financial security of a living wage job,” Jones said.

“The Honor Roll proves that many schools are doing well, even those with high numbers of historically disadvantaged students,” said Jim Lanich, ERP President and CEO. “These schools are clearly doing something right and all schools, no matter what zip code they are in, can achieve this kind of success. School and school district leadership have a great opportunity to find out what’s working at these Honor Roll schools and replicate it.”

The California Honor Roll program is made possible with generous support from numerous businesses and organizations including Automobile Club of Southern California, Macy’s, Wells Fargo, Enterprise Holdings Foundation, and several private foundations. Chevron Corporation provides support for the STEM Honor Roll.

A full list of the Honor Roll schools, districts, and the STEM awardees is posted online [here]; get more information by following Jim Lanich, President and CEO, at @JLanich, or emailing help@edresults.org.

About the Saugus Union School District
The Saugus Union School District serves the Santa Clarita communities of Saugus, Valencia and Canyon Country with 15 elementary schools for 10,000 students. The District was recently awarded Gold Ribbon Awards for 14 of 15 schools with two Exemplary Arts Awards, and these awards continue a tradition of excellence for the District, which includes five National Blue Ribbon Awards, 14 California Gold Ribbon, 35 California Distinguished School Awards (for 15 schools) and six California Business for Educational Excellence Awards (one Star School and five Scholar Schools).