Mountain Views News     Logo: MVNews     Saturday, April 27, 2013

MVNews this week:  Page 9

9

EDUCATION & YOUTH

Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 27, 2013 

SCHOOL DIRECTORY

PUSD SCHOOLS RECEIVE STATE, NATIONAL RECOGNITION

Pasadena, CA – Pasadena Unified School 
District (PUSD) schools have been honored 
by The Washington Post, U.S. News 
& World Report and California Business 
for Education Excellence (CBEE) for their 
academic achievement, efforts to close the 
achievement gap and offering a challenging 
educational experience.

The Washington Post named Marshall Fundamental 
Secondary School, John Muir 
High School and Pasadena High School to 
its 2013 list of America’s Most Challenging 
High Schools. Marshall Fundamental was 
also ranked as the most challenging public 
school in the San Gabriel Valley and the 
315th most challenging school in the nation. 
The methodology The Washington 
Post uses to determine school rankings 
is “to take the total number of Advanced 
Placement, International Baccalaureate and 
Advanced International Certificate of Education 
tests given at a school each year and 
divide by the number of seniors who graduated 
in May or June.” Visit www.washingtonpost.
com/local/highschoolchallenge/ to 
see the complete list.

Don Benito Fundamental School, Hamilton 
Elementary School, Sierra Madre Elementary 
School and Marshall Fundamental 
School were named to the 2012 CBEE Honor 
Roll. CBEE claims that “the CBEE Honor 
Roll is the only school recognition program 
in the state using only student achievement 
outcomes as the criteria and is a growing 
resource for all schools to learn about best 
practices that increase student achievement.” 
Don Benito, Hamilton and Marshall 
were recognized for their work in closing 
the achievement gap and Hamilton was also 
recognized for higher performance in math 
and science. See the entire CBEE Honor 
Role at new.cbee.org/programs.

U.S. News & World Report awarded silver 
medals to Marshall Fundamental School 
and Pasadena High School as part of their 
2013 Best High School rankings. According 
to the publication, “a three-step process 
determined the Best High Schools. The first 
two steps ensured that the schools serve all 
of their students well, using performance on 
state proficiency tests as the benchmarks. 
For those schools that made it past the 
first two steps, a third step assessed the degree 
to which schools prepare students for 
college-level work.” The complete national 
rankings are available at www.usnews.com/
education.

“I am proud of the hard work that the 
students and staff accomplished at these 
schools to be recognized by such prestigious 
organizations,” said PUSD Superintendent 
Jon R. Gundry. “What is notable is that 
many of these schools were awarded before. 
Rather than rest on their laurels, they have 
continued to improve and make the district 
proud. As high rigor classes and programs 
spread across the district, I expect to see 
more PUSD schools named to these nationally 
recognized lists.”

In the 2013-2014 school year, all PUSD 
middle school students will be able to access 
challenging Honors level courses in English 
language arts and math. Additionally, every 
PUSD comprehensive high school offers 
Advanced Placement classes and a multitude 
of courses that are recognized by the 
University of California as requirements for 
admission.

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: Brent Forsee

bforsee@ausd.net

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: Ethan Williamson

Kindergarten - 8th grade

website: www.barnhartschool.org

Bethany Christian School

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

(626) 355-3527 Principal: James Lugenbuehl

E-mail address: jml@bcslions.org

website: www. bcslions.org

Clairbourn School

8400 Huntington Drive

San Gabriel, CA 91775

Phone: 626-286-3108 ext. 172

FAX: 626-286-1528

E-mail: jhawes@clairbourn.org

Foothill Oaks Academy

822 Bradbourne Ave., Duarte, CA 91010

(626) 301-9809 

Co-Principals Nancy Lopez and Diane Kieffaber

info@foothilloaksacademy.org 

preschool@foothilloaksacademy.org

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 

Headmaster John Higgins

626-798-8989

website: www.highpointacademy.org

LaSalle High School

3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca. 

(626) 351-8951 website: www.lasallehs.org

Principal Bro. Christopher Brady, FSC

Monrovia High School

325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016 

(626) 471-2800 Principal Darvin Jackson

Email: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.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: Gilbert Barraza

website: www.pasadenahigh.org

St. Rita Catholic School

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

Principal Joan Harabedian

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

Sierra Madre Elementary School

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

(626) 355-1428 Principal: Esther Salinas

E-mail address: salinas.esther@pusd.us

Sierra Madre Middle School 

160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

(626) 836-2947 Principal: Garrett Newsom

E-mail address: newsom.garrett@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

ARCADIA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

234 Campus Dr., Arcadia, Ca. 91007

(626) 821-8300 Website: www.ausd.net

MONROVIA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

325 E. Huntington Dr., Monrovia, Ca. 91016

(626) 471-2000 Website: www.monroviaschools.net

DUARTE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

1620 Huntington Dr., Duarte, Ca. 91010

(626)599-5000 Website: www.duarte.k12.ca.us

DUARTE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT RECOGNIZED 
BY CALIFORNIA BUSINESS COMMUNITY 
FOR HIGH STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT 
AND CLOSING ACHIEVEMENT GAPS 

Schools Selected by California Business for Education Excellence 

for Prestigious Honor Roll

(Duarte, CA) –Duarte Unified 
School District announced today 
that Beardslee Elementary 
and Royal Oaks Elementary 
have been selected by California 
Business for Education Excellence 
(CBEE) as two of 2,108 
public schools in California to 
receive the title of 2012 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. 

The CBEE Honor Roll is comprised 
of “Star Schools” Award 
(871 schools) and “Scholar 
Schools” Award (1,237) 
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. CBEE Scholar 
Schools are schools that are 
showing significant levels of 
academic achievement, but do 
not have a significant socio-
economically disadvantaged 
student population. 

“It is an honor to be recognized 
by California’s business 
community, and we are proud 
that Beardslee and Royal Oaks 
have been selected as Honor 
Roll schools,” said Dr. Terry 
Nichols, district superintendent. 
“Through the collaborative 
effort s of our faculty, staff, 
administration and parents, all 
Duarte Unified Schools work 
to deliver a first class education 
that is engaging and adapted to 
the passions of our students. 
By incorporating high expectations 
and quality instruction, 
we are making record gains in 
student academic achievement 
.” 

 “We have schools throughout 
the state that are getting it right 
for all students and this should 
not be a secret,” said Greg 
Jones, CBEE Chairman and 
past member of the California 
State Board of Education. “To 
ensure more of our schools 
succeed, we must change the 
conversation from being about 
fixing failing schools to one 
that focuses on replicating the 
success of schools like those on 
the Honor Roll.” 

Over time, CBEE has identified 
a common set of success factors 
in higher performing Honor 
Roll schools and districts. These 
include high expectations for 
all students; ongoing collaboration 
among teachers to improve 
practice; targeted use of data to 
pinpoint challenges and monitor 
progress; continual intervention 
for struggling students; 
and mastery of content knowledge 
and pedagogical practices. 

“Honor Roll schools are overcoming 
challenges and obstacles 
every day for all students 
and are especially succeeding 
with kids who have been historically 
underserved. Our goal 
is to highlight their results, and 
provide a voice to these outstanding 
educators so that their 
success can be emulated in 
other places, “ said Jim Lanich, 
CBEE president. 

The Honor Roll list grew from 
261 schools in 2005 to the current 
2,108 for 2012. A full list of 
the Honor Roll schools can be 
found at: www.cbee.org 

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.

PARENTS AS LEADERS 

SEMINAR IS MONDAY, 
APRIL 29

Interactive Workshop on Building Communication 
and Collaboration Leadership Skills

PASADENA, CA – Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) 
parents who are interested in serving in leadership positions to 
make a difference in PUSD schools are invited to attend “Parents 
as Leaders 2,” a seminar for current and prospective parent leaders 
Monday, April 29 from 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m in the McKinley 
School library. The seminar focuses on building communication 
and collaboration skills to work effectively with diverse groups 
and parents. Led by expert leadership facilitator Diane Burbie, 
the seminar will be highly interactive.

This is the second session of the three part Parents as Leaders 
series offered this spring to build family engagement in PUSD. 
It is a partnership between PUSD and the Pasadena Education 
Network, an independent non-profit parent organization that 
helps families explore, evaluate and engage with public schools 
by connecting parents with facts, tools, schools, resources, and 
other parents.

Admission is free. Spanish translation and childcare (for school-
age children only) will be provided. For advance registration, 
please contact the PUSD Welcome Center at 626-396-3600 ext. 
88340 or email berberian.suzanne@pusd.us.

Parents as Leaders Seminar 2-

Communication and Collaboration Skills

Monday, April 29, 2013

6 p.m. Dinner and Registration

6:30 p.m. Program Begins

8:30 p.m. Program Concludes

McKinley School Library

225 South Oak Knoll Avenue, Pasadena


THE REEL DEAL: by Ben Show

OBLIVION

SIERRA MADRE 
ROSE FLOAT 

ASSOCIATION 
SCHOLARSHIP 
OPPORTUNITY

The Sierra Madre Rose Float 

Association is proud to announce 
its annual scholarship 
competition. To qualify, 
applicants must actively participated 
in one or more Sierra 
Madre Rose Float activity 
(such as fundraising, 

design, construction, flowering 
or as a past or present 
float rider) and must currently 
be a student in their 
senior year of high school or 
be a college freshman with a 
minimum GPA of 3.0. 

For more information and 
to download an application 
form, please visit our website 
at: http://www.smrosefloat.
org/scholarship.

All applications must be received 
by May 3, 2013.

 This is an amazingly strange 
movie. It blends the best of 
Wall-E, Prometheus, and 
Halo, blending it seamlessly 
into the gorgeous world and 
an ingenious plot line that is 
Oblivion.

 After the war on Earth with 
the Scavengers (referred to as 
Scavs), which destroyed Earth, 
Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) and 
Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) 
are left behind to help with 
the filtering of seawater. After 
the war, they all went under 
a mandatory memory wipe, 
leaving humanity with a clean 
slate. However, when a strange 
object crashes and the human 
crew are killed off by a rogue probe, Jack begins to question 
everything, even Sally, their boss who lives in a giant space station.

 Oblivion shocked me. Before going, I had heard mixed 
reviews, that it started slowly, which it did, and that it wasn’t that 
great. I disagree with all of these review. For all true fans of sci-fi, 
this is a must see, but for general moviegoers, I would recommend 
it if you have a tolerance for slow beginnings (like Cloud Atlas). 
The payoff at the end of the movie, however, is well worth the 
wait.