At the district's Nov. 18 meeting, Superintendent Mary Ann Park and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Boxer-Gassman reported to the school board the results of the 2003 Academic Performance Index Growth Report, released Oct. 24. The district placed in the upper 2.8 percent of the state's school districts.

The API is the centerpiece of statewide accountability, measuring both academic performance and growth of schools. A cornerstone of California's Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999, the API is a numeric index or scale ranging from a low of 200 to a high of 1,000. The state recommends a performance target for all schools of 800.

The district's average API score of 882 is up this year by 10 points from the 2002 score, placing it 29th out of the 1,033 school districts in the state. Individual schools within the district had scores ranging from 861 to 915, all well above the state's minimum target of 800.

"It means that our students are performing very, very well," Park said. "They are continuing to increase their performance year after year."

Components of the 2003 API score include the Standardized Testing and Reporting program, which includes the California Achievement Test and California Standards Test. STAR testing is held each spring for students in second through eighth grades. Testing subjects include language arts, reading, math and social studies. Park said test scores are now compared with the previous year's scores of the same students in order to track progress and growth.

At the Nov. 18 meeting, the board also reviewed the preliminary plans for the next two schools, after Louise Van Meter Elementary School, that are up for being remodeled—Blossom Hill and Daves Avenue elementary schools. Site facilities committees at both schools are looking at the current needs of the schools and designing plans to meet those needs. For example, Park said Blossom Hill requires a new multipurpose room, library and classroom wing. Daves Avenue's current multipurpose room will be turned into a library, and a new multipurpose room and an additional classroom wing will be built.

Park added that every classroom at both schools will be renovated. The schools will both be beautified with better landscaping, increased parking and improved traffic-flow patterns.

"I think these schools are going to be just spectacular," Park said.