Windemere Ranch Earns Title of Best Middle School in the State

(SRVUD Release)--

Windemere Ranch Middle School in San Ramon shares the top score in the state of California on the 2013 Academic Performance Index Growth Report according to data released last week by the California Department of Education.

The API measures and compares the academic performance and growth of schools on a variety of academic measures.

The overall 2013 API growth score for Windemere Ranch was 986, up 5 points from the 2012 API Base score of 981.

This places Windemere Ranch as the highest performing middle school in the entire state (along with John F. Kennedy Middle in Cupertino and William Hopkins Junior High in Fremont).

The state goal for all schools is 800 on the API and the San Ramon Valley Unified School District 2013 Growth API score was 923.

The statewide 2013 Growth API was 789.

“We have an amazing staff and parent community, and we pride ourselves on providing a safe, nurturing, and intellectually stimulating environment," said David Bolin, Principal at Windemere Ranch Middle School.

“We consistently reinforce with our students the importance of completing assignments on time and have several intervention strategies in place to help those students who may be struggling," Bolin said.

The 2013 Growth API measures the amount of growth a school or district makes since the release of the previous Base API.

Statewide, 56 percent of elementary schools, 50 percent of middle schools, and 31 percent of high schools are now at or above the state target of 800.

San Ramon Valley's results continue to place the district among the highest in California.

"The vast majority of our students continue to test at proficient or advanced levels," said Superintendent Mary Shelton.

"While this reflects quality teaching and great family and community support, we know that we can never rest and remain committed to continuous improvement," she said.

The API is the cornerstone of the state’s academic accountability requirements.

The API is a numerical index (or scale) ranging from a low score of 200 to a high score of 1000. It reflects a school’s or district’s academic performance based on annual results of statewide testing at grades two through eleven.

Each year, schools receive two API reports, the API Base (reported in March) and the API Growth (reported in September).