Nine schools were honored during the Rocklin Unified School District board meeting on May 31. Antelope Creek Elementary, Ruhkala Elementary, Valley View Elementary, Rock Creek Elementary, Breen Elementary, Sierra Elementary and Parker Whitney Elementary Schools as well as Rocklin and Whitney High Schools have been selected by California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE) as nine of 1,221 public schools in California to receive the title of 2010 Honor Roll School. School Principals received a certificate and banner to display at their school sites commemorating this award and recognition. Schools receiving this distinction from California’s business community have demonstrated consistent high student academic achievement and have made significant progress toward closing achievement gaps among all their students. The statewide Honor Roll is made up of two different awards: the “Star Schools” Award (477 schools) and “Scholar Schools” Award (774 schools). “We are extremely proud that eight of our district schools have been honored and recognized as Honor Roll ‘Scholar Schools’ and one school as a ‘Star Schools’ award winner by California’s business community,” said Rocklin Unified School District deputy superintendent Linda Rooney. “The staff, students, parents and district community remain focused upon excellence in instruction and outstanding academic achievement. This recognition is the result of dedication to providing exemplary educational opportunities to all students. The work of our Professional Learning Communities has proven to be extremely effective.” No other school recognition program in California uses hard data, individual school and student subgroup performance data based on the California Standards Tests and the California High School Exit Exam, to evaluate school academic performance. “It is only by looking at this hard data, student test scores, and evaluating students and schools based on grade-level proficiency of the California standards, that educators, parents and the public are assured that students are meeting or exceeding our high standards,” Rooney said. “Our students have proven that they can continue to excel.” Over the past five years, the Honor Roll list has grown from 304 schools in 2006 to 1,221 schools in 2010. Both Breen Elementary and Valley View Elementary Schools were honored in 2007 while Breen Elementary, Sierra Elementary, Valley View Elementary, Ruhkala Elementary and Rocklin High School were honored and recognized in 2008. Cobblestone Elementary, Twin Oaks Elementary, Valley View Elementary, Rock Creek Elementary, Ruhkala Elementary, Granite Oaks Middle School, Whitney High School and Rocklin High School were all recognized in 2009. “We know from the success of these schools that all schools and all students in California can reach high levels of academic achievement and we can close achievement gaps,” said Kirk Clark, president of CBEE. “By highlighting Honor Roll Schools, recognizing their achievement and giving them a voice we hope other schools can learn from these schools’ ‘best practices’ and achieve the same results.” CBEE Star Schools are those with significant populations of socio-economically disadvantaged students that have shown a significant increase in grade-level proficiency over many years for all subgroups. Students are achieving proficiency levels and these schools are closing the achievement gap. “We salute Antelope Creek for this honor,” he said. CBEE Scholar Schools are schools that are showing significant levels of academic achievement, but do not have a significant socio-economically disadvantaged student population. Ruhkala Elementary, Valley View Elementary, Rock Creek Elementary, Breen Elementary, Sierra Elementary and Parker Whitney Elementary Schools and Rocklin High School and Whitney High School are honored and recognized as CBEE Scholar Schools. “We congratulate and honor our well-deserving students, parents and staff for these outstanding recognitions and accomplishments,” Rooney said. ~Staff report