The Visitor’s Guide to High Performing Elementary Schools

Welcome to The Visitor’s Guide to High Performing Elementary Schools (Visitor’s Guide), featuring profiles of the California School Recognition Program Distinguished School Honorees, Title I Academic Achieving Schools, and National Blue Ribbon Schools. Starting in 2006, all California schools receiving these awards were invited to contribute to the Visitor’s Guide by submitting one to three signature practices they believe have had a positive effect on student performance. Some of the practices presented in the school profiles--events, actions, and programs--were initiated recently; others have been in place longer. Some of the schools describe holistic or schoolwide practices that have become part of the school’s fabric or culture.

The intent of the Visitor’s Guide is to provide a glimpse into some of California’s most successful elementary schools and practices they perceive to have supported their success. Ideally, the Visitor’s Guide will lead a visiting school to contact a participating school in order to learn more about a particular practice that may be of interest to the visiting school.

The Visitor’s Guide may be searched by school location or by one of the six categories of school programs. The category “Curriculum and Instruction” is divided into subcategories provided in drop-down menus.

• Contact information for the site
• Months designated for visiting
• Links to such school information as staffing, enrollment, and student demographics
• Links to school AYP and API data
• Signature practice(s)*

*The signature practice descriptions were submitted by the schools. The California Department of Education does not endorse or advocate the use of any particular programs outside of the State Board of Education-adopted instructional materials.

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