A gold rush hit Morgan Hill Unified School District’s four secondary schools last week as they all received multiple 2015 California Gold Ribbon Awards for having model programs at their sites.
“The fact all four schools received awards is a testament to the cohesion and collaborative nature between the schools,” said Principal Lloyd Webb of Live Oak High School. “It’s a great honor to get that because it acknowledges all the things that the staff has done and the students have accomplished over the last five years.”
A panel of judges conducted walk-throughs at the different school sites and also performed interviews of students involved in the programs and support staff that helped facilitate them.
At two MHUSD high schools, which both earned gold marks for the Career Technical Education programs, Ann Sobrato also received the state’s recognition for its Equal Opportunity Advisory Program while Live Oak earned additional praise for its Comprehensive, Developmental Guidance and Counseling Program.
“I think, for our staff, it’s really a validation of all of their hard work,” said Principal Debbie Padilla at Sobrato. “It’s not just the teachers. It’s the counselors, administrators, students, community and just everyone who helps to prepare our students for the future.”
At MHUSD’s two middle schools, Britton struck gold for having a comprehensive school system from intervention to enrichment based on assessment and for connecting students and families with school through activities, outreach and community service. Martin Murphy turned gold for technology and a positive school climate.
“It means a lot to our school and to me personally,” said Principal Heather Griffin at Martin Murphy. “We’ve all been working hard to make the school into a high-performing, learning environment with a positive climate.”
The California Gold Ribbon recognition replaced the California Distinguished School designation program this year, since one of the criteria for the old format was the now defunct Academic Performance Index. There were 373 schools throughout the state awarded by the California Department of Education with the gold ribbon in 2015.
“It’s great to be recognized for a lot of hard work staff and students have been doing,” said Principal Glen Webb at Britton. “It was especially nice, since we’re such a close-knit team among secondary schools, to have a clean sweep.”
Sobrato
As part of the Equal Opportunity Advisory Program, students meet once a week with a teacher to go over a variety of issues, including their academics, class scheduling, career goal setting and overcoming challenges they may be facing such as bullying.
“This past year we worked really hard to increase the rigor at our school,” said Padilla, whose staff guided more than 60 percent of students to take and succeed in Advanced Placement coursework. In that process, Sobrato reached equity among students enrolling in AP courses.
In 2015, 638 Sobrato students enrolled in at least one AP course. Of that, 269 were in the “White” subgroup; 224 landed in the “Hispanic” subgroup; 115 in the “Asian” subgroup; and 20 in the “African American” subgroup. The increase came across all subgroups with a steady rise from 2010 to 2014 and a noticeable jump, with the EOS partnership in place, from last year to 2015.
“One hundred percent of our staff was involved,” Padilla said. “It’s definitely them stepping outside of what’s (contractually obligated) to do what’s best for kids.”
Sobrato’s thriving agricultural program, within the CTE, is comprised of close to 300 students.
“We’re kind of all-inclusive for ag,” said Padilla, detailing the program that encompasses animals, horticulture, floral, culture, food, leadership, healthy living and nutrition. “It’s more than that old notion of just raising animals.”
Live Oak
A multitude of programs to help support students and increase their opportunities for enrolling in college prep and advanced placement courses garnered one of two golds for LOHS, according to Lloyd Webb.
“Originally, it was a single program, but it’s been a real transformation,” Webb explained. “They all fall under an umbrella for the services that we put in and provided for our kids here. A lot of that has been designed by staff at large, our teacher leadership and our counselors.”
An “extraordinarily successful woods program,” which includes basic woodworking, construction tech and cabinet making; a fashion program, which helped students continue on to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in San Francisco; a culinary and nutrition program; and a computer-based advanced multimedia program also drew gold from the state judging panel.
“They are a tremendous way for kids to apply their academic knowledge to hands-on learning,” Webb said. “It’s a huge part of our master scheduling.”
Martin Murphy
Praised for use of technology by the state’s judging panel, Martin Murphy middle schoolers are exposed to a wide variety of tools, including training on Google Chromebook laptops in every classroom and in the school’s new Innovative Learning Center.
“(The ILC) has movable interactive whiteboards and two full sets of Chromebook carts,” said Griffin, whose staff places importance on digital literacy skills for all students. “We were able to address the opportunity gap that exists for a third of our students.”
Of those students, 10 percent had no Internet access at home and 30 percent rarely or never used computers to complete their homework assignments, according to a student survey.
“We saw that students did perform better academically,” said Griffin of the results from the technology initiative.
Grade point averages increased 12 percent from 2012-13 to the 2013-14 school year while suspensions decreased by 37 percent, which Griffin directly correlated to “increased student engagement” through technology.
Another byproduct of that increased student achievement and engagement—as well as a successful bully prevention program—was Murphy’s positive school climate, which also earned them a gold ribbon.
“In history classes, we discuss bullying and real life issues that students may be facing and brainstorm on how we can support one another,” Griffin explained. “We’ve tried to reinforce a sense of community among students and staff.”
Britton
An assortment of intervention programs in reading and math “to assure students achieve grade level,” impressed the gold ribbon judges during their March visit to Britton.
“We take measurements of math and English abilities three times a year of every student,” said Glenn Webb. That information is then used to steer students into the appropriate program to better support them in their studies.
Also monitoring students’ participation in school clubs, athletic teams, assemblies, awards presentations and other activities was seen as a model for other schools to follow. Staff then identifies students who are not participating and tries to get them more involved in some way.
“We get them together to find some common interest and get them involved in something,” Webb explained. “Schools and learning are a whole lot more effective when students are having fun.”
