Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 3, 2011

8

EDUCATION & YOUTH

Mountain Views News Saturday, September 3, 2011

SCHOOL DIRECTORY

SIERRA MADRE SCHOOL BREAKS 900

Highest Academic Performance Index Ever For PUSD School!

Alverno High School

200 N. Michillinda Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3463 Head of School: Ann M. Gillick 

E-mail address: agillick@alverno-hs.org

Arcadia High School

180 Campus Drive Arcadia, CA 91007

Phone: (626) 821-8370, Principal: David L. Vannasdall

Arroyo Pacific Academy

41 W. Santa Clara St. Arcadia, Ca, 

(626) 294-0661 Principal: Phil Clarke

E-mail address: pclarke@arroyopacific.org

Barnhart School

240 W. Colorado Blvd Arcadia, Ca. 91007

(626) 446-5588 Head of School: Joanne Testa Cross

Kindergarten - 8th grade

website: www.barnhartschool.com 

Bethany Christian School

93 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-3527 Principal: James Lugenbuehl

E-mail address: jml@bcslions.org

Carden of the Foothills School

429 Wildrose Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016 626/358-9414 
626/358-5164 fax office@cardenofthefoothills.com

The Gooden School

192 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-2410 Head of School: Patty Patano

website: www.goodenschool.org

High Point Academy

1720 Kinneloa Canyon Road

Pasadena, Ca. 91107 626-798-8989

website: www.highpointacademy.org

LaSalle High School

3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 351-8951 

website: www.lasallehs.org

Monrovia High School

325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016 

(626) 471-2000, 

Email: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.us

Norma Coombs Alternative School

2600 Paloma St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 798-0759 Principal: Dr. Vanessa Watkins 

E-mail address: watkins12@pusd.us

Odyssey Charter School

725 W. Altadena Dr. Altadena, Ca. 91001

(626) 229-0993 Head of School: Lauren O’Neill

website: www.odysseycharterschool.org

Pasadena High School

2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 798-8901 Principal: Dr. Derick Evans

website: www.pasadenahigh.org

Pasadena Unified School District

351 S. Hudson Ave. Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981 website: www.pusd@pusd.us

St. Rita Catholic School

322 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-9028 website: www.st-rita.org

Sierra Madre Elementary School

141 W. Highland Ave, Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 355-1428 Principal: Gayle Bluemel

E-mail address:gbluemel220@pusd.us

Sierra Madre Middle School 

160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 836-2947 Principal: Gayle Bluemel

Contact person: Garrett Newsom, Asst. Principal

E-mail address: gbluemel220@pusd.us

Walden School

74 S San Gabriel Blvd

Pasadena, CA 91107 (626) 792-6166 

www.waldenschool.net

Weizmann Day School

1434 N. Altadena Dr. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 797-0204

Lisa Feldman: Head of School

Wilson Middle School

300 S. Madre St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107

(626) 449-7390 Principal: Ruth Esseln

E-mail address: resseln@pusd.us

Pasadena Unified School District

351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena, Ca. 91109

(626) 795-6981 Website: www.pusd@pusd.us

Sierra Madre School became the 
district’s first school to score above 900 on 
the Academic Performance Index (API), 
according to the 2011 Accountability 
Progress Reporting (APR) released this 
week by the California Department of 
Education. More than half of the remaining 
PUSD Schools scored 800 or better.

 However, the results of the federal 
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), also 
released today, placed schools that scored 
above the 800 API benchmark into federal 
Program Improvement for failing to meet 
growth targets.

 Together, the API and the AYP are the 
two main indicators of school performance 
and both systems are based upon the 
results from STAR and the California High 
School Exit Exam. California’s definition 
of proficiency in English language arts and 
math is widely considered among the most 
rigorous in the country.

“I am pleased that schools demonstrated 
improvement, especially those that made 
substantial gains this year, and I am deeply 
committed to working with the schools with 
scores that dropped or remained low,” said 
Superintendent Jon R. Gundry. “I have set 
an immediate course of action to examine 
the reasons for the inconsistencies in school 
performance and to make adjustments 
tailored to each school. Administrator and 
school teams began this work earlier this 
month and will continue throughout the 
year.”

On the API, the score most commonly 
used as a measurement of academic 
performance, Sierra Madre scored 908 this 
year and became the first school in PUSD 
to score above 900. Ten other schools scored 
above the 800 benchmark on the API and 
two schools moved above 800 for the first 
time: Altadena Elementary scored 818 and 
Field Elementary scored 813. While 1,000 is 
the highest API score possible, the state sets 
its goal at 800 points. Schools with scores 
below 800 are assigned a growth target each 
year until they meet or surpass the state’s 
goal. 

In terms of improvement, Altadena 
Elementary grew the most this year, 
jumping 63 points. Among secondary 
schools, John Muir High School improved 
the most, doubling its growth target to gain 
19 points this year. Marshall Fundamental 
tripled its growth target for a 15-point gain 
and Washington Middle School gained 14 
points. Nine PUSD schools met their API 
growth target this year. Overall, PUSD 
improved by 53 points over the last five 
years. 

However, the number of schools whose 
scores dropped significantly were in 
almost equal proportion to those that grew. 
Already, school teams and administrators 
have worked together with parents to closely 
examine data and determine the factors that 
lead to decreases in scores. The ongoing 
work is paired with an examination of the 
significant increases at other schools to 
determine which practices can be shared to 
propel improvement.

On the AYP, the federal school 
performance system established under the 
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, nine 
PUSD schools met proficiency targets and 
in math and four met the English language 
arts target.

The AYP sets progressively higher 
performance targets each year with the 
goal of reaching 100 percent proficiency 
by 2013-2014. Schools must meet up to 42 
objectives every year, including growth 
among subgroups of students, and can be 
labeled as failing AYP if they do not meet 
targets for two consecutive years. Once 
labeled, schools enter the federal Program 
Improvement, which mandates sanctions.

The federal growth target increased by 11 
percent this year alone. In California, 913 
schools were newly identified as “failing” 
this year, despite meeting or surpassing the 
state API target of 800. 

Three PUSD schools with API scores 
above 800 were placed on program 
improvement for the first time because of 
the federal AYP mandates. 

Hamilton Elementary School, which 
scored 863 on the API this year, has 
consistently scored above 800 for the last 
several years, was named a National Blue 
Ribbon School in 2009, and scored a 10 of 
10 when compared with similar schools in 
California, entered program improvement 
despite having more of its students test 
advanced or proficient than ever before. 
Hamilton was placed on program 
improvement because the school did not 
meet one its subgroup AYP goals for two 
consecutive years. 

This week, State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction Tom Torlakson issued a letter 
to the federal Department of Education 
proposing that California be allowed to 
freeze the imposition of sanctions and 
mandatory identifications for the coming 
school year at last year’s levels.


PUSD Jon Gundry and Sierra Madre School Principal Esther Salinas

Alverno Makes News!

Class of 2015 Goes Beyond Borders at Alverno


New freshmen at Alverno High School 
began class confident, comfortable, and 
ready to go. This is because of a new 
program at the college-prep high school 
for girls in Sierra Madre that aims to calm 
those freshman jitters and get a new school 
experience off on smooth start.

“The entire class attended our Positive 
Skills for a Successful Alverno Experience 
workshop over the summer,” says Dean 
of Students Cam Gonzales. “We want 
the new girls to start school acclimated to 
the Alverno culture and to feel more self-
confident in a new situation.”

The girls discussed Alverno’s mission, 
which is to empower each young woman to 
be exactly the person she wants to be. The 
girls each made a video expressing how she 
will embody the school’s mission. Lead by a 
team of sophomores, the girls learned about 
the school’s founders, its extensive activities 
program, and how to become involved in 
school government, which is modeled on 
the U.S. government. There were sections 
on study skills and building healthy 
friendships. The week-long class closed 
with the girls creating a time capsule to be 
opened in their senior year. 

Cam Gonzales was very happy with the 
Positive Skills class. “We have the largest 
number of freshmen ever running for 
office,” she says. “Because they know more 
about our government system, they will 
have a very effective and fun freshman year.”

“We have a tradition of choosing a theme 
for each year,” says Ann Gillick, Head of 
School. “The theme for this year is Beyond 
Borders. It fit in beautifully with freshman 
orientation,” she observed, as groups of 
freshmen rushed about getting mock 
passports stamped to show that they could 
find important places on campus.

Frosh Shannon Marks found the study 
skills part of Positive Skills especially 
helpful. “ I was worried about how to get 
organized for block schedule and high 
school classes,” she says. “We learned the 
best way to set up our binders and got some 
useful note taking tips.”

Ariana Vasquez says Positive Skills and 
Orientation helped settle her nerves for the 
first day of high school. “I knew everybody 
in my class before school even started. I’d 
met some teachers and I know where things 
are--and my binders are already all set up.” 
Arianna calls herself shy, adding, “I feel a lot 
more confident and I’m ready to come out 
of my shell!”


LeAnn Zuniga, Amanda Tamayo and 

Gabriela Prado at orientation

Alexis Estrada and Ali Peterson 

at their new lockers

Looking Into The Life Of A Teenager

 By Meaghan Allen


FIRST 

People always say that there is a first for everything: a 
heartbreak, skinny dipping, failing an exam, etc. This week 
I experienced my first job interview at Barnes and Noble 
Booksellers. Preparing for college, I have been attacking the 
job scene like crazy, trying to find a place that I like and is 
also flexible with my school schedule and hours so that I 
can save up a few dollars, so when I leave next year I am not 
completely broke. 

Barnes and Noble seemed like the perfect place to look into: 
the books, coffee, and people make a perfect atmosphere of 
leisure and work, not to mention the location and customer 
discounts as well. So I decided to apply and was told to come 
to the group interview on Monday.

I woke up feeling ready to excel and when I put on my 
business attire was ready to show them who was boss. I 
walked into the store and saw the sign-up clipboard, filled out 
my name (number 3), and relaxed knowing that I had made 
the list and could therefore pass the next two hours before the 
interview in Starbucks next-door. The time moved slowly, and 
the last five minutes before the interview my heart began to 
race manically. When they told us all to enter the back room 
I chose a seat towards the middle and tried to act calm. The 
overall process was simple, only two questions were asked, 
one of which was choosing an item off the floor. I chose The 
Hobbit on CD because I think it is the perfect combination of 
carefree entertainment while being educational at the same 
time. 

Little did I know I was competing against professional 
salesmen who could sell me a spork if necessary. Despite this, 
it was a great learning experience, especially being my first 
interview.

Helena Enciso, Izaura Avitia, and 
Alexia Palomino

Crystel Maloof in Alverno uniform on the 
first day of high school

G

Tween/Teen 

Book Group Forming

Pasadena Public Library’s Allendale Branch is forming a Tween/Teen Book 
Group. If you love to read, discuss books and make new friends call (626) 
744-7260 for more information. Allendale Branch Library is located at 1130 
S. Marengo Ave.