San Luis school not making the grade
A junior high school in San Luis, Ariz., will be under review by a state intervention team after receiving a failing grade under the AZ Learns standards.
Southwest Junior High School has been designated as failing to meet the state's academic standards after an underperforming grade for three years in a row from the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), said Amy Rezzonico, a department spokeswoman.
AZ Learns is an ADE achievement profile that uses standardized test scores and other data to measure whether Arizona schools are performing up to standard.
Southwest Junior High, in the Gadsden Elementary School District, was one of eight schools around Yuma County that were designated as not meeting the grade.
Other schools that were given an underperforming grade were Post Elementary School and Fourth Avenue Junior High School in Yuma Elementary School District 1; Rio Colorado Elementary School and San Luis Middle School in the Gadsden district; Somerton Middle School; Wellton Elementary School; Carpe Diem Academy at the sixth- to eighth-grade level.
No Yuma County school received the highest grade, excelling, but seven received the next highest grade, highly performing: Centennial Middle School and Gary A. Knox, Pueblo and Ronald Reagan elementary schools, all in the Crane district; Ed Pastor Elementary, in Gadsden; Mohawk Valley Elementary in Roll; and Alice Byrne Elementary, in District 1.
All other schools in the county received either a performing plus or performing grade.
Southwest was visited by a school solutions team beginning two years ago when it was first designated as underperforming. But because it's continued to have a low performance, its school improvement plan will be reviewed, Rezzonico said.
The ADE intervention will participate in a review process that will look at the progress the school has made on its school improvement plan, analyze student performance on state standardized test and go over the school's financial expenditures that go toward school improvement, Rezzonico explained.
The team will look into whether the school is implementing the improvement plan, and whether it has aligned its curriculum with Arizona academic standards and other proven strategies to improve academic performance, she said.
"Once all of this data is collected, they'll determine then what type of intervention (by the state) will be recommended for the school," Rezzonico said. "It's hard to say (what type) it could be as much as a take-over," she said.
Calls placed by The Sun to Southwest for comment were referred to Gadsden Superintendent Ray Aguilera. Gadsden district spokeswoman Rosy Ballesteros said he would have no comment on the results until he had time to review them.
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2007 AZ LEARNS RESULTS FOR YUMA COUNTY
- ANTELOPE UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Antelope Union High School - Performing
- CRANE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Centennial Middle School - Highly Performing
Crane Middle School - Performing
Gary A. Knox Elementary School - Highly Performing
Suverkrup Elementary School - Performing Plus
Pueblo Elementary School - Highly Performing
Rancho Viejo Elementary School - Performing
Ronald Reagan Elementary School - Highly Performing
Salida Del Sol Elementary School - Performing Plus
Valley Horizon Elementary School - Performing Plus
- GADSDEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Arizona Desert Elementary School - Performing
Cesar Chavez Elementary School - Performing
Desert View Elementary School - Performing
Ed Pastor Elementary School - Highly Performing
Gadsden Elementary School - Performing
Rio Colorado Elementary School - Underperforming
San Luis Middle School - Underperforming
Southwest Junior High School - Failing to Meet Academic Standards
- HYDER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Dateland Elementary School - Performing Plus
- MOHAWK VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Mohawk Valley Elementary School - Highly Performing
- SOMERTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Desert Sonora Intermediate School - Performing Plus
Orange Grove Elementary School - Performing Plus
Somerton Middle School - Underperforming
Tierra Del Sol Elementary School - Performing Plus
- WELLTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Wellton Elementary School - Underperforming
- YUMA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT 1:
Alice Byrne Elementary School - Highly Performing
McGraw Elementary School - Performing Plus
Castle Dome Middle School - Performing
Desert Mesa Elementary School - Performing Plus
Fourth Avenue Junior High School - Underperforming
Carver Elementary School - Performing Plus
Gila Vista Junior High School - Performing
Gwyneth Ham Elementary School - Performing
Rolle Elementary School - Performing Plus
Price Elementary School - Performing Plus
Otondo Elementary School - Performing
Post Elementary School - Underperforming
O.C. Johnson Elementary School - Performing Plus
Palmcroft Elementary School - Performing Plus
Pecan Grove Elementary School - Performing
Woodard Junior High School - Performing
Ron Watson Middle School - Performing Plus
Roosevelt Elementary School - Performing Plus
Sunrise Elementary School - Performing Plus
- YUMA UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT:
Cibola High School - Performing
Kofa High School - Performing
San Luis High School - Performing Plus
Vista Alternative School - Performing
Yuma High School - Performing
- CHARTER:
Az-Tec High School - Performing
Carpe Diem Academy (6-8) - Underperforming
Carpe Diem Academy (9-12) - Performing
Harvest Preparatory Academy (K-6) - Performing Plus
Harvest Preparatory Academy (7-12) - Performing
AmeriSchools Academy - Performing Plus
Desert View Academy - Performing Plus
PPEP-TEC - Jose Yepez Learning Center - Performing
YPIC Educational Opportunity Center - Performing
