Dear County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and Elementary School Principals:

2020 California Distinguished Schools Award Program

The California Department of Education (CDE) and I are pleased to announce the 2020 California Distinguished Schools (DS) Award. As part of our California School Recognition Program, this is one of the many ways we can celebrate excellence in education and honor exemplary students, teachers, classified employees, and schools.

Presented by the CDE and sponsored by California Casualty, the 2020 California DS Program will recognize California elementary schools that have made exceptional gains in implementing the academic content and performance standards adopted by the State Board of Education for all students. In 2020, California is using a multiple measures accountability system to identify eligible schools based on their performance and progress on the state indicators as specified on the California School Dashboard (Dashboard) web site at https://www.caschooldashboard.org. Information about the Dashboard is available on the CDE California School Dashboard and System of Support web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/cm/.

In order to be recognized as a 2020 California DS Awardee, schools must meet the eligibility criteria and submit a completed 2020 California DS Application by Friday, December 6, 2019. A list of elementary schools that are eligible to apply for the 2020 California DS Award is available on the CDE CA DS Eligibility List for 2020 web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cs/awardees2020.asp [Note: the preceding link is no longer available].

Information about the California DS Program is available on the CDE DS Program web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cs. If you have any questions about the California DS Program, please contact the Improvement and Accountability Division Awards Team at awards@cde.ca.gov.

Information about the California Exemplary Arts Education (EAE) Award is available on the CDE California EAE Award web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/ea/. If you have any questions about the California EAE Award, please contact the Awards Team in the Communications Division at Awards@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction

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2019-06746