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SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced two California schools will receive the prestigious National Distinguished Title I School Recognition Program Award. The award is designed to recognize high-poverty schools that demonstrate significant and sustained academic improvement.

The two schools are Monarch Academy, a charter school authorized by the Oakland Unified School District in Oakland, and West Campus High School in the Sacramento City Unified School District in Sacramento.

"In spite of significant challenges, these two schools have worked very hard to receive this national honor," O'Connell said. "Monarch Academy is being honored for closing the achievement gaps among its significant subgroups, including students living in poverty, disabled students, or those learning English. West Campus was chosen because it had the greatest percentage of students achieving at the ‘proficient' and ‘advanced' levels in English-language arts and mathematics. Both of these outstanding schools provide their students with an enriched and accelerated educational program that ensures their students will succeed both in further academic study and as productive citizens. These two schools will serve as models for other high-poverty schools in California and across the nation."

O'Connell has targeted closing the achievement gap as his top priority. During his 2008 State of Education Address, he announced a framework designed to develop, implement, and sustain a specific, ambitious plan that holds the State of California accountable for creating the conditions necessary for closing the achievement gap. For more information, please visit State of Education Address - January 22, 2008.

The two schools selected for the award are among a total of 71 schools nominated by each state nationwide. All schools nominated will receive an award. They will be recognized at the 2008 National Title I Conference called "Changing Performance" of the National Association of State Title I Directors (NASTID) during a ceremony in the Delta Ballroom of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel January 31-February 3, 2008, in Nashville, Tennessee. Schools selected as Distinguished Title I School Recognition Award winners will also be featured in an online publication available at the NASTID Web site at: National Association of State Title I Directors [http://www.titleI.org/dsp.html] (Outside Source).

Monarch Academy was founded in 2000 and currently has 352 students enrolled in kindergarten through grade five. Monarch Academy is one of the schools in the nonprofit Aspire Public Schools network. About 92 percent of the school's students qualify for the free and reduced-price meals program and 74 percent of the students are classified as English learners.

West Campus High School was founded in 2003 and currently has 812 students enrolled in grades nine through twelve. Forty-two percent of the students enrolled at West Campus High School are eligible for free or reduced-price meals and 32 percent of its students have a language other than English spoken in their homes. The school has open enrollment and features a college-readiness curriculum.

Title I is the largest federal-aid program provided to kindergarten through grade twelve students and is a component of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Since its inception in 1965, the Title I program has served more than 150 million children by providing extra academic support in the core subjects.

The California Department of Education will honor other outstanding Title I schools at a gala dinner and reception at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on April 22, 2008. For more information, please visit Title I Conference Information.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The contact at Monarch Academy is Principal Tatiana Epanchin-Troyan, 101st Avenue, Oakland, CA, 510-568-3101. The contact at West Campus High School is Principal John Becker, 5022 58th Street, Sacramento, CA, 916-277-6400.