La Mariposa Elementary posts highest API score in district

La Mariposa Elementary School scored 925 points—the highest in the Pleasant Valley School District—on the Academic Performance Index (API) for 2008-09, according to data released last week by the California Department of Education.

API scores range from 200 to 1,000 points based on results from the Standardized Testing and Reporting and other assessment tests. The state has set a target of 800 points on the API for all schools.

Only nine other elementary schools in Ventura County achieved a higher score than Camarillo’s La Mariposa Elementary.

“Our teachers, parents and students are all very, very excited,” principal Jay Greenlinger said. “It’s wonderful to come into a school where there’s a culture of high expectations and an agreement to help every student.”

Greenlinger, who took over the reins this year, said credit must also go to former principal Pam Gonzales, who now heads Las Colinas Middle School.

Greenlinger also credited parent volunteers at La Mariposa who lend support to educational programs inside and outside the classroom. For example, parent volunteers maintain and contribute to a library for students who need extra help in reading.

Although the 660-student elementary school is relatively large, Greenlinger said, it feels like a small community because of the dedicated parent volunteers and willing teachers who band together to help struggling students.

The kindergarten-through-eighth-grade Santa Rosa Technology Magnet had the second highest API score in the district with 914 points. Tierra Linda Elementary came in third at 900, a 20-point gain over 2007-08.

Las Colinas Middle School posted the highest growth, improving 48 points to 869.

Nine of the district’s 13 elementary and middle schools posted API gains in 2008-09, while four experienced a drop. El Descanso Elementary lost 17 points to score 803; Dos Caminos Elementary slid 13 points to 831; Los Primeros School of Sciences and Arts fell 9 points to 871, and Monte Vista Middle School dropped two points to score 829.

Eight of the district’s schools scored above 800. The number of schools scoring above 900 increased by one. In 2007-08, only two schools were in 900-point territory—Santa Rosa at 911 and La Mariposa at 901.

Closing in on 800 points are University Preparation School at CSU Channel Islands, which gained 33 points to reach 790, and University Charter Middle School at CSU Channel Islands, up six points to 766. The Pleasant Valley School District chartered the elementary and middle schools several years ago.

All student subgroups at University Preparation, La Mariposa Elementary, Tierra Linda Elementary, Santa Rosa Technology Magnet and Las Colinas Middle schools made progress in meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets in 2008-09.

As required by the federal government’s No Child Left Behind Act, school subgroups must meet ever-increasing academic goals or AYP targets that include proficiency in English and math. A subgroup refers to students of 100 or more categorized into racial groups, English learners, those who are economically disadvantaged, or those with disabilities.

The AYP goal is for all students to be proficient in math and English by 2014.

Schools that receive Title 1 federal money to help their populations of economically disadvantaged students but whose subgroups do not make yearly progress in the same criteria area for two consecutive years enter Program Improvement, which requires the schools to take corrective measures that could last for five years. University Preparation is in its first year of Program Improvement, and University Charter Middle is in its second.

Linda Ngarupe, superintendent of the two-school district, said a subgroup at the middle school was not meeting math goals, but the school’s staff has analyzed the curriculum and identified the problem.

“We’re totally focused in and taking care of that,” Ngarupe said.

Subgroups at the elementary school have met 20 out of 21 AYP criteria in 2008-09, and the school is working its way out of Program Improvement, Ngarupe said.

“We’re not concerned about it because we know we’re making growth,” she said.

Schools whose subgroups demonstrate progress for a sustained period of time can leave Program Improvement status.

As a whole, the Pleasant Valley School District scored 862 points on the API, a 16-point gain over 2007-08. The score is the highest of Ventura County’s nine kindergartenthrougheighthgrade districts with multiple schools.

“We’re very pleased with our API,” Assistant Superintendent Linda Peralta said.

Peralta acknowledged that not all subgroups in Pleasant Valley schools met their yearly growth targets but said teachers and administrators will continue working hard to help all students succeed despite state funding cutbacks to education.

“It’s a challenge, but we’re up for a challenge,” she said.