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Faria Elementary earns top ranking in the state
By George Moore
Last year, Faria Elementary School fell just three points shy of being the top academic dog in the state, falling second to Whitney High of Cerritos in Los Angeles County. This year the Cupertino school claimed top honors, earning 975 points out of a possible 1,000 on the Academic Performance Index released Oct. 15. The school was seven points higher than No. 2 ranked Whitney.
Faria is not a magnet school--as reported by the San Jose Mercury News on Oct. 17--it is one of four lottery schools within the Cupertino Union School District. A magnet school provides a distinctive or specialized curriculum or educational approach and attracts students from outside an assigned neighborhood attendance zone. Dolly Travers, principal of Faria, said lottery schools provide curriculum that is approved by the district, and attract students within the district's boundaries.
According to Travers, all four of the lottery schools have a slightly different philosophy and approach, but they all share a common vision of fostering a traditional environment that focuses on mastering academic skills and applying them.
Travers said she was thrilled when she found out Faria was the top-scoring school on the state's standardized test.
"I'm so proud of my kids and my teachers," Travers said.
But Travers said the school's ranking did not surprise her because the school's focus is a direct match with the criteria of the API.
"We look at the API measure as a benchmark of where we are, and each year we try to improve against ourselves," Travers said.
The 1999 API established a baseline for each school's academic performance and an annual growth target, according to API guidelines spelled out by the Fremont Union High School District. It states that each school's target is set at five percent of the difference between the school's API and the statewide performance target of 800.
This is the third straight year since the baseline was established in 1999 that Faria has improved in its academic performance standings.
Faria focuses on vocabulary development, and the kindergarten through fifth-grade school's 583 students are there because their parents decided after attending informational meetings that this is a good match for them. Parents must apply to the school through a lottery system, with some ending up on a waiting list.
Travers said the API is only one measure of a school's success. She frequently observes the students and teachers, looking for signs that might seem insignificant, such as a twinkle in a student's eye or the lacking of spring in their step.
One of the school's secretaries, Roxanne McCarthy, said parents of the students are very involved and share in the success of their children.
"There is great communication between the faculty and parents," McCarthy said. "We have goal-setting conferences that allow parents to know what is expected."
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
