With over 133,000 students in attendance, San Diego Schools have a lot to live up to. Parents expect excellence when they send their children off to school each day, and that’s certainly the case in this California community. There are over 250 public schools in this city.

San Diego Schools are viewed as some of the best educational facilities in the nation. This school district was recently the recipient of a grant in the amount of $17.5 million dollars. This grant was awarded by the federal government as part of the Shining Readers program. In addition, the Government of California also recognized schools in San Diego in the form of a $2.24 million dollar grant that is directed towards the science program in the district’s middle schools.

The community as a whole is supportive of all schools in San Diego. Many of the area’s businesses have joined together to form the Partners in Education organization. This group of individuals has contributed more than $8 million dollars to San Diego Schools in recent years. Combine that with the more than 20,000 volunteers who spend their time working within the schools and it’s obvious that the children attending have an advantage.

There are 247 Elementary San Diego Schools, 124 Middle Schools, and 87 High Schools. For parents who choose not to send their child to one of the 263 Public Schools, there are 78 Private San Diego Schools that may be a better match. Before parents decide to spend the extra money associated with enrolling their child in one of the expensive private schools they should consider how impressive the Public School system is.

San Diego Schools achieved an impressive 45 out of 46 of federal Adequate Yearly Progress tests. In fact, San Diego was the California city that placed highest on the test. Schools in this city have met all of their academic achievement targets for 2007, but that doesn’t mean administrators are sitting on their laurels.

Only 54 San Diego Schools achieved a score of 800 on the Academic Performance Index which is a state based evaluation system. Although this number is up from last year’s 53 area Schools that achieved excellence, there is obvious room for improvement. It’s worth noting that 12 of the San Diego schools surpassed expectations by attaining a score of 900.

More attention needs to be directed towards students with disabilities in San Diego Schools. Every other sub-group that was tested, including Caucasian, African American, American Indian, and Hispanic students all met minimum requirements. Students living with a disability enrolled in schools in San Diego failed to meet the necessary requirements in English Language Arts.

With the community working hand-in-hand with San Diego Schools the level of excellence with the system will continually increase. The state of California recognizes the progress being made at the school system in San Diego which will translate to more funding in the future. Big districts face the increased challenge of even distribution of educational opportunities among a ethnically and financially diverse student body population. San Diego is no different. Acknowledgment of the issue is but only a first step.

Author Bio: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit San Diego California School Ratings – Private and Public

Category: Education
Keywords: San Diego Public Schools. San Diego School Ratings, San Diego School Rankings