Tehachapi News

Golden Hills invited to apply for distinguished school honor

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Fourth-grade teacher Mori Park has taught at Golden Hills School in Tehachapi for nearly 20 years. When she heard the school had been invited to apply for a California Distinguished School honor, she was pleasantly surprised.

Then again, she wasn't surprised at all.

“I've watched how we've grown,” Park said. “I'm toward the end of my career. This would be a nice way to go out.”

Park, who said she plans to retire after the next school year, isn't the only person affiliated with Golden Hills excited over the honor's prospective weight.

“Being nominated now is a big deal,” said Dr. Richard Swanson, superintendent for the Tehachapi Unified School District.

In the past, any school in California could apply to the state department of education to becoming a California Distinguished School, Swanson said.

Now, the state reviews every school's test scores before inviting a select group to apply, Swanson said.

“I'm really proud that we've been nominated,” Swanson said.

Schools are invited to apply based heavily on their Academic Performance Index scores, which gauge gains and drops in standardized testing performance.

Schools have to show improvement in API scores for each of its subcategories - including Hispanic/Latino and socioeconomically disadvantaged - from year to year to be eligible.

Golden Hills' overall API score was 796. Swanson said having a score around 800 was “pretty rarified air as it is.”

“Right now, meeting all those targets for a school is problematic,” Swanson said. “The opportunity of having two distinguished schools in the district is very exiting.”

Tehachapi High School was designated a California Distinguished School last year.

Swanson said just getting invited to apply was the biggest hurdle. He said roughly 90 percent of schools invited to apply get accepted.

Golden Hills must submit its initial application to the department of education by Dec. 18.

After an application review, the state will send a group to the school before deciding whether to hand out an award.

“It's an honor to know we're doing our job and we're being successful,” said Heather Richter, a third grade teacher at Golden Hills. “I think excited was my first emotion. That's a big deal.”

Richter, who has taught at Golden Hills for 10 years, said her students might not know how important a distinguished school honor would be.

They know enough, though, she said.

“I think they know they have a good school,” Richter said. “They know we're proud of them.”

Kindergarten teacher Theresa Morrow said she was happy another school in Tehachapi might receive the honor.

“I think (Golden Hills) has been awesome for years,” said Morrow, who is currently in her 22nd year at the school. “It's nice to know someone else has seen that, because we know it.”

Swanson said Golden Hills and other schools were trying to meet students' needs despite the state's difficult financial position.

“We have a lot of good things,” Swanson said. “And that's in an economic climate that's just awful. The district keeps adapting and, at the same, it keeps improving.”

When state officials visit Golden Hills early next year, the school will show that it's deserving of a distinguished school honor, Swanson said.

“I absolutely think so,” he said. “They will have something to highlight, for sure.”