Font ResizeIt's hard to believe, but we are already in our sixth week of the 2008-09 school year. In my column last month, I exalted the great gains in the Academic Performance Index in our regular kindergarten through 12th-grade schools and the district. We all should be very proud of their accomplishments.
The API scores for MUSD were great; however, I did make a terrible omission. The district is blessed to also have four specialized schools that are also providing a fabulous education for our students. The four schools are Calaveras Hills High School, Milpitas Community Day School, Milpitas Adult Education, and our Child Development Centers.
The students at Calaveras Hills High School, a California Distinguished Continuation School, also take the STAR test each spring. Because Calaveras Hills is a continuation high school, they do not get an official API score. However, if they did, their 2008 API results would have shown an amazing 80-point gain over the previous year! Student progress at continuation high schools like Calaveras Hills are based on an accountability system known as the "Alternative Schools Accountability Model." For Calaveras Hills High School, the ASAM measures high school graduation rates, credit completion, and attendance. I am very pleased to announce that the Calaveras Hills graduation rate for 2008 was a tremendous 97 percent, the attendance rate is more than 92 percent, and the credit completion rate is well above state average. The district is fortunate
Milpitas Community Day School is another outstanding alternative school. It is a school that serves a very select population of students who are at-risk. The Community Day School provides a smaller, structured environment with credit recovery and socialization skills as the focus. The school is designed not to be an end destination for students, but one where they can get refocused on their academics and move back to a comprehensive middle or high school.
Last year 100 percent of the upper classmen who took the California High School Exit Examination in Language Arts at Community Day School passed. Credit recovery for the students at Community Day School in 2007-08 was 88.96 percent. High expectations for credit recovery and passing the exit exam will continue to be the driving focus for the 2008-09 school year. This year the bar has been raised to 95 percent for credit recovery. The expectation for our students is "Nothing Less Than Success."
The Child Development Centers located at Rose and Sunnyhills are working to close the "Readiness Gap." Using the newly released California Preschool Learning Foundations, the staff is dedicated to creating high quality programs that successfully transition students into kindergarten. In addition to the preschool programs, Child Support Services also provides after school care for school-age children from all nine elementary schools. Teaching children to be confident and successful learners is the goal of Child Support Services, and the staff is working to provide engaging learning environments that assist children to be successful throughout their elementary school years and beyond.
The Milpitas Adult Education Center is an award-winning program that serves all adults, select high school aged students in need of credits for graduation, and inmates at Elmwood Correctional Facility. The center offers an array of courses and programs ranging from adult literacy, ESL, computers, cooking, finance, small business, GED, health, arts, to high school diploma. The classes are taught by fine professionals who have years of experience in their chosen fields.
The Milpitas Unified School District and the City of Milpitas are very fortunate to have such wonderful programs for our students and adults.
