All but one regular Arcadia school ranks in the top percentile of schools across California in the API ratings. A comparison to Monrovia and Pasadena schools is included.
Arcadia Unified School District students show impressive scores on the Standard Achievement Test (SAT 9) and on advanced placement tests. See chart of scores from 1994-2001.
Arcadia High School students are doing well on the high school exit examinations. 89% of 10th graders taking the math exam passed and 88% passed the English exam. Comparison of test scores with Monrovia, Pasadena, and Los Angeles County.
A study released today by the Public Policy Institute of California found students' progress toward English proficiency is linked to their native language and socioeconomic status more than the length of time they've been in the country. A comparison chart of San Gabriel Valley schools is included.
Area school districts did better than average on the 2004 California English Language Development Test of English learning students. Sixty-six percent of students tested in Arcadia Unified School District scored in the advanced categories.
Among West Valley districts, the Arcadia Unified School District had the highest percentage of English-proficient students. 64% of the district's English learners scored at the "proficient" level on the English Language Development Test. That compares to 36 percent of English learners statewide who scored proficient on the test.
Fewer than half of the high school students statewide scheduled to graduate in 2004 have passed both the English language arts and mathematics portions of the California High School Exit Exam. Arcadia High School sophomores who took the test last year had the strongest showing in the local area with 89% of the 738 students tested passing math and 88% passing English.
Arcadia City Manager Bill Kelly is skeptical about the way the State of California balanced this year's budget. The State promises to pay cities back for sales tax to be used to pay off $10.7 billion in loans. The maneuver, known as the "triple flip" will take half of the cities' sales tax revenue for the next five years, and pay it back out of property taxes now earmarked for schools. Arcadia will lose 25% of its vehicle license fee reimbursement, around $750,000. Arcadia is in good shape this year and next, primarily because of a healthy reserve fund. After 2004-2005, unless some solutions are in place, the city could face some hard times.
The California State Department of Education has released test scores and rankings. Every spring the state gives each public school two rankings from 1 to 10. A "statewide" rank compares each school in the state and the "similar schools" rank compares schools with similar demographics and populations. Oak Avenue Intermediate in Temple City Unified School District and Huntington Middle School and San Marino High School in San Marino Unified all got 10s in both categories. All schools in the Arcadia Unified School District earned a rank of 10 in the "statewide" category, but ranks varied in the "similar schools" category.
Cal Poly Pomona hosted the 20th annual Science Olympiad for the Southern California region. Six San Gabriel Valley schools were among the 48 schools that participated. Arcadia High School student Alanna Mori competed.
Eighth grade students at Foothills Middle School participate in Frontier Days, a celebration of how pioneers lived in the old west. Student Nick Board is shown in a photo.
Since state lawmakers have reached a budget deal. West San Gabriel Valley cities will receive monies to be used for road repairs and transit improvements. Arcadia will receive $237,931 in 2005-2006. In the past two years, these funds were withheld by the state to cover budget shortfalls.
Senator Bob Margett told Arcadia City Council that California is facing a $15 billion deficit in the 2003-2004 fiscal year and cities could be targeted for revenue transfers.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed taking 8% of the property tax that cities receive. That would mean a loss of $1,202,358 for Arcadia. A chart shows how much other local cities may lose.
The state's budget crisis could mean that Arcadia Unified School District will suffer a shortfall of an estimated $2.3 million in the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Figures for other local school districts are included.