Mayor Gonzales Celebrates Five Most
Improved San José Schools

Second annual "Progress to Excellence" Awards

San José, CA ---- Five San Jose elementary schools that have made the greatest academic improvements over the past two years received the “Mayor’s Progress to Excellence” award today from Mayor Ron Gonzales and a caravan of community leaders and representatives of San Jose sports teams and police and fire departments.

The mayor established the annual “Progress to Excellence” award last year to recognize the five San Jose public schools that have achieved the biggest combined increase in their Academic Performance Index scores over the previous two years.

“We are celebrating outstanding progress by schools that have worked hard to help our children achieve greater success,” said Gonzales. “Students, teachers, administrators, and parents in these schools have earned praise and thanks for all they have done to make our community’s schools better for our kids.”

The five elementary schools include Hester and Almaden in the San Jose Unified School District, and Linda Vista, San Antonio, and Painter in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District.

The mayor visited each of the schools this morning to personally present the award to students and teachers. He was joined by city councilmembers Nora Campos, Ken Yeager, and Judy Chirco, along with a colorful caravan that included police mounted units, the San Jose Fire Department “Shark Engine,” Di Alagich from the San José CyberRays, San Jose Earthquakes representatives, and Sharkie, the mascot of the San Jose Sharks.

The API was mandated by the 1999 California Public Schools Accountability Act to measure progress on education reform efforts. The API measures school academic performance with possible scores between 200 and 1000, currently based on the Stanford 9, a nationally-normed standardized achievement test administered annually to California students in grades two through eleven.

Ultimately the API will include a variety of indicators such as standardized test scores, high school exit exam scores, dropout and graduation rates, and student attendance data.

“We created this award to call attention to the success of San Jose public schools that have show how school communities can work together to achieve excellence in education ,” said the mayor. “These schools are models for the entire city.”