Junior High is Distinguished School

Healdsburg Junior High School is one of two schools in Sonoma
County that has been awarded the California Distinguished School
Award given by the State out of almost 100 schools that
applied.
The annual award is given to schools that are showing
improvement in academic achievements and who exceed excellence in
school programs. This is the second time the junior high has been
awarded.
“I think it is really a recognition of the years of hard work by
the staff and some effective governance at the board level,” said
Superintendent Jeff Harding. “But it really comes down to the
quality of instruction in the classroom.”
In March, a representative from the California Department of
Education visited the middle school campus to assess their progress
over the past year and to determine if they would be awarded one of
the State of California’s highest educational awards.
With a rise in their test scores and attendance, the school has
raised their Academic Performance Index (API) score from 735 to 775
in one year. An API of 800 is the statewide goal.
“This is pretty significant,” said Principal Deborah Hall. “What
really got us recognized was our sub-groups had to meet certain
growth targets and we met all of them.”
Sub-groups that the state looks at are demographics of the
student population. Students in the Hispanic sub-group improved
from a 655 to 718 API in just one year and other sub-groups
including socioeconomically disadvantaged and English language
learners also increased their API by more than 50 points.
Because of the increase in achievement, the school also recently
added two advance placement classes, which Hall said, “shows that
these kids are succeeding and we believe in them and are supporting
them to get there.”
During the time of application, Hall said the focus was to show
how the school has built a positive school climate, increased their
Advancement Via Individual Determination program (AVID), and
continue building a connection with the students.
According to the Sonoma County Office of Education, “the site
validation team found a consistent focus on student success, which
was reinforced by the school’s two signature practices—enhancing
school culture and accelerating student achievement through
instructional strategies.”
Hall explained that instruction in the classroom has always
focused on covering a certain amount of information rather than
teaching and presenting information at a pace that students can
absorb and understand. Now the instructors take more time to stop
and reassess what is working and what is not.
“The huge efforts by our staff is the reason we qualify and they
really can never get recognized enough,” said Hall. “And the
community support for programs through our PTO and Healdsburg
Education Foundation are also a large contributor to our
success.”
Unfortunately due to budget cuts, the school principal and
teachers won’t be attending the traditional celebration in
Disneyland. Harding and other district officials will instead host
a celebration at the county level.
Staff Writer Robin Hug can be reached at [email protected].