Napa High School officially accepted its 2017 California Gold Ribbon School honor last week from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.
Napa High School, which has 1,800 students, qualified to apply for this honor based on the number of students who met or exceeded standards on the English Language Arts & Math 2016 CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance & Progress), the school reported.
Eleventh-grade students take the CAASPP each spring. Statewide, 477 schools who qualified to apply went through the process and completed an application. Of the 477 applicants, 275 middle and high schools were selected as 2017 Gold Ribbon Schools.
Sarah Denney, Math teacher leader, said, “I am proud of the Napa High Math department for working through the challenges of shifting to Common Core and the Integrated Math Curriculum. I am also proud of how our students have adjusted and persevered through these changes.”
In their Gold Ribbon School application, Napa High School staff highlighted their partnerships with New Tech Network (NTN) and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). New Tech network is a national organization supporting almost 200 schools in implementing project- and problem-based learning. AVID is a national organization with more than 6,000 implementing its approach to supporting students.
New Tech Network supports adaptive shifts in the way Napa High approaches teaching and learning, while AVID provides best practice strategies that help all students engage in Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization and Reading (WICOR).
The partnerships with NTN and AVID focus on student outcomes. Both organizations support schools by putting students at the center of the work. Project- and problem-based learning are built on the premise that instruction should be differentiated and personalized from beginning to end.
“We are proud to be a comprehensive high school willing to transform classroom practices that put students at the center to prepare them for 21st century careers and college,” Principal Annie Petrie said.