On Tuesday, August 24, the State Board of Education announced it will award the San Bernardino City Unified School District $57.6 million in School Improvement Grants geared to boost student learning at 11 campuses previously identified as low achieving. 
     The funding is the largest block of money awarded to a single California school district.
     The District is counting on the money to fund state-mandated transformation plans at Davidson and Rio Vista Elementary Schools and Arroyo Valley, Pacific, and San Gorgonio High Schools. The funding will also go to schools that are using the turnaround model, Barton, Hunt, Marshall, and Wilson Elementary Schools and Serrano and Shandin Hills Middle Schools. 
      The changes will result in a new organizational structure for the schools and increased flexibility for the curriculum.  And, they will open the door for more creative approaches to learning.   This is a springboard to new opportunities.
     The original plans proposed instituting the Restart and Transformation models at the desig­nated sites.  Prior to the plans being submitted to the state, the federal government clari­fied the criteria for the reform models.
     Based on the clarification and on feedback from community fo­rums and public meetings, the District revised the plans with a proposal to use the Transformation and Turnaround Model at the 11 identified schools. 

     Despite these changes, the plans originally developed by the writing teams, with input from the staff, will be implemented according to design. The State Board of Education is reviewing the District’s SIG plans and has not yet awarded any School Im­provement Grants. The original and revised plans are available below.

Each SIG school site has a complete copy of their SIG plan, in its draft form, available for review in the school office.

 

Davidson Elementary School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan
Rio Vista Elementary School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan
Arroyo Valley High School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan
Pacific High School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan
San Gorgonio High School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan

 

 

    This model is similar to existing, successful improvement plans in the District.  It will provide high-quality professional development for teachers and could increase learning time for students.

Barton Elementary School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan
Hunt Elementary School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan
Marshall Elementary School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan
Wilson Elementary School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan
Serrano Middle School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan
Shandin Hills Middle School	SPSA with Integrated SIG Plan

     This model requires a turnaround in staffing, therefore, no more than 50% of the 2006-07 staff can remain at the site for the 2010-11 school year. Turnaround schools will implement comprehensive instructional reform using research-based practices. The District office will provide operational flexibility and sustained support.  And the learning time for students can be increased at Turnaround sites.