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December 2008 > School News
CAL Prep Named Title I Academic Achievement School
Megan Reed is CAL Prep's new principal.
The overnight trip to Marin Headlands is a highlight for CAL Prep's seventh grade. California College Preparatory Academy (CAL Prep), a public charter school co-designed by UC Berkeley and Aspire Public Schools, has been selected as a 2008-09 Title I Academic Achievement school by the California Department of Education. CAL Prep is one of 200 California schools representing 88 school districts in 27 counties honored with the award (list of winners here).
"These schools deserve high praise for improving student achievement," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "They have addressed barriers to student success and were able to create a school environment conducive to learning. I congratulate the teachers, staff, paraprofessionals, parents and students who all worked hard this past year to improve. I hold these schools up as models for their success in ensuring that all students without regard to race, economic status, or physical or mental challenges are given the kind of education that allows them to achieve to their fullest potential."
The Title I Academic Achievement Awards are given only to schools receiving federal Title1 funds as authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. To be eligible for the Title I Schoolwide Program, a school must enroll 40 percent or more of socioeconomically disadvantaged students. To meet the criteria for this distinction, the school must demonstrate that all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California's academic content standards. Additionally, the school's socioeconomically disadvantaged students must have doubled the achievement targets set for them for two consecutive years.
The 200 awardees will be honored at a special award ceremony held in conjunction with the annual California Title I Conference scheduled for April 27-28, 2009, at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel in Anaheim. For more information about the California Title I Conference.
Solid Gains
The hard work of CAL Prep students and their teachers, led to solid gains on the California Standards Tests for the second year in a row — increasing the school’s API 51 points from 725 last year to 771. In its first year of testing (2006), CAL Prep’s API was 648. In 2008, math proficiency doubled to 47.4 percent from 23.7 percent in 2006. A total of 43 percent of CAL Prep students scored “proficient” or “advanced” in English Language Arts, up from 23.7 percent in 2006. The achievement gap is narrowing for many CAL Prep students.Equally important, CAL Prep students are benefiting from practical, research-based innovations; courses taught by UC Berkeley and Berkeley City College faculty; no-cost intervention and enrichment programs; and intensive academic, social and emotional support from adults, including 30 UC Berkeley undergraduates, to help them build the habits needed for success in higher education. A fully staffed, campuswide study hall at the end of the school day allows students to get help and a jump on their homework. Then they can join in a rich set of after-school activities, including drama, visual arts, cooking, sports, music production and dance.
New Location
Students in CAL Prep’s upper grades moved to a new facility at the former St. Joseph the Worker parochial school building in Berkeley this year. In addition, Megan Reed, last year’s dean of students, was promoted to principal, and Maia Correal is filling the dean’s role. “The students respond extraordinarily well to Megan,” said GSE Dean David Pearson.“They know she cares about every one of them and is deeply committed to their academic and personal success. She has the educator’s gift of inspiring each student to be the best he or she can be, and the atmosphere at the school this year is really exciting.”
CAL Prep continues to enjoy broad support from UC Berkeley. Since 2003, a multidisciplinary faculty oversight committee has guided all activities to co-construct the school from the ground up with Aspire Public Schools, California’s first charter management organization. With the leadership of the Office of Equity and Inclusion and the Graduate School of Education, the Bill and Melinda Gates-funded early college model is being replicated at other Aspire schools and has promising implications for other multicultural school settings throughout California.
CAL Prep is open to all students and families, with preference given to students who face barriers to college going. Currently serving 200 students in grades 7–10, the school will add a grade each year, reaching grade 12 in 2010–11. The student body is 62 percent African American and 35 percent Latino, 35 percent are English Language Learners, and 64 percent are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
A feature article about Cal Prep appeared in the Dec. 3 edition of The Berkeleyan.
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