Grove, Pacifica, Bolsa win high honor

BOLSA GRANDE, Garden Grove and Pacifica high schools were honored this week as California Distinguished Schools (GGUSD graphic).

Garden Grove Unified School District was well-represented in the 2019 Distinguished Schools Program, which was announced by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond on Feb. 25. GGUSD placed more high schools on the list than any other school district in Orange County with Bolsa Grande, Garden Grove, and Pacifica high schools all receiving the recognition. Schools are awarded for achieving exceptional student performance for two consecutive school years or closing the achievement gap between two school years.

“Once again GGUSD schools demonstrated to be among the best in California when it comes to academic excellence,” said Board of Education Vice President Teri Rocco. “This shows the commitment of the students, faculty, and administration at each school who are more than deserving of this recognition.”

Schools that applied were eligible based on their performance and progress on the state indicators as described on the California School Dashboard. Indicators include test scores, suspension rates, and graduation rates.

Distinguished School award winners represent examples of not just excellent teaching, learning, and collaboration, but also highly successful school climate efforts ranging from real-time conflict resolution to positive behavior intervention. The Distinguished Schools award program alternates between recognizing elementary and secondary schools from year to year.

In 2018, GGUSD was named the first and only California Exemplary District in Orange County in addition to have 11 schools named to the 2018 California Distinguished Schools Program which was the most in Orange County.