California Distinguished Schools Program honors some of the state’s most exemplary and inspiring public schools that demonstrate significant progress in narrowing the achievement gap in their student population. Elementary and middle schools are recognized during alternate years. For 2012, eligible elementary schools were invited to participate. For eligibility criteria, please see http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cs/criteria.asp. General program information for California Distinguished Schools may be found at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cs/proginfo.asp.
There are over 5,500 public elementary schools in California, about 400 were eligible to receive the award. 387 elementary schools won the prestigious award and 31 of these are located in Santa Clara County. Sunnyvale School District was honored to have two of its schools among the winners this year: Cumberland Elementary School and Ellis Elementary School.
Peter Fong, Cumberland’s principal, in an e-mail to the Cumberland School community, credits his staff, teachers, parents, and students, as well as his predecessors at Cumberland for this achievement. Pepper Butler, Ellis’ principal, applauds her dedicated staff in providing every student with meaningful education that prepares their students for the future.
Article by Nina Wong-Dobkin
