REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY 1999-2000

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A Message from the Principal ... 

The School Report Card, to be issued annually by local school boards for each elementary and secondary school in the state, provides a variety of information about the school, its resources, its successes, and the areas in which improvements are needed.

The Santa Lucia staff has developed a very strong academic program, as well as a well balanced extra-curriculum program. These programs were developed to meet the ever growing demands of the early adolescent in our complex society today. As you read this Report Card for Santa Lucia School, you will find a picture of a school with a solid record of improvement, a faculty that is professionally skilled and personally committed to meeting the learning needs of students, and a student body which is motivated to perform well. You may request additional information regarding the Report Card by calling the school office.

Denis M. de Clercq, Principal

A 'Snapshot Look' at Santa Lucia School

Santa Lucia School includes grades sixth through eighth and serves Cambria, San Simeon, and surrounding areas. In the 1998-99 school year,196 students attended Santa Lucia and received instruction in Math, Language, Social Studies, Science, Physical Education and a variety of elective classes which included: Intermediate and Advanced Band, Public Speaking, Spanish, Art, Word Processing, Film, Skills for Adolescence, Advance Computer Technology, and Science World. Enrollment for 1999-2000 is currently 200 students.

As a middle school, the staff of Santa Lucia use instructional strategies that accommodate diverse learning styles, interests, and developmental readiness by utilizing hands-on activities, real life situations, questioning strategies, individual and group projects, and the use of technology.

The staff of Santa Lucia are committed to providing the highest quality academic and elective programs possible as they prepare each student to become productive citizens in tomorrow's society.

In the most recent parent survey, 79% of the parents responding indicated that they were pleased with their child's progress in school.

1 Student Achievement 
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The Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program, authorized through Senate Bill 376 in 1997, requires that all California students in grades 2 through 11 take a single standardized achievement test to measure achievement in basic academic skills. The test selected was the Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, Form T, (SAT9), published by Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement. In spring 1999, students in grades 2 through 8 were tested in reading, written expression (language), spelling and mathematics. The test was selected by the State Board of Education from a group of nationally normed tests that were submitted by test publishers. Test questions were reviewed by a community panel appointed by the Governor, the Legislature, and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The scoring is set so that nationally, half of all students score below 50% and half score above 50%. So, for example, a score of 70 means that Santa Lucia students scored better than 70% of all students taking the test in the state. 

Test results will be looked at with other achievement information to develop a clear picture of your student's academic progress. Other achievement information may include class assignments, projects, and tests; student grades; and other district tests. Teachers will use all of the information to plan ways to help our students improve.

A breakdown by grade and subject area, showing the percentile rank of each grade group for each test, is shown on the following page.

STAR TEST (SAT9) RESULTS, Grade 6-8
 Median National Percentile Rank 

Health Fitness Test 

The State-required Physical Fitness Tests are designed to appraise the physical fitness status of students and evaluate the effectiveness of physical education/health-related fitness programs at our school. The 7th grade results indicate that a large percentage of Santa Lucia students passed or exceeded the minimum standard for each of the areas tested.

2 Student Attendance 
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Student attendance rates at Santa Lucia School remain high with an average daily attendance for 1998-99 of 190. Our percentage of actual attendance was 96.25% for the 1998-99 school year. Students are rewarded for perfect attendance with merit points and awards at the end of each semester. We believe this rate reflects the importance placed on school attendance by the parents of our school.

3 Expenditures and Services 
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The cost of operating the district during the 1998-99 school year was $6,097,760, or $6,038 per student in the district. These funds were allocated for all general education expenditures, which include classroom teachers, teaching aides, books, supplies, and support services such as the school nurse, library services, counselors, and administrators. Santa Lucia receives federal and special state funding for programs such as Title I, Special Education, and English as a Second Language.

1997-98* salary comparisons and percentage of operating budget between the District and the State were: 

*1998-99 State statistics not yet available. 

4 Class Size 
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During the 1998-99 school year the average class size was 25 students per class. Based on the type of educational program offered, some of our basic academic classes had enrollments higher than the average, but there were elective classes that were well below this average. Being able to offer a well-rounded educational experience to students is a high priority of the staff, along with maintaining a commitment to relatively low class size.

5 Teacher Assignments 
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All Santa Lucia teachers have valid state teaching credentials. The district hires only teachers who are credentialed by the state and who also have multiple talents. This is necessary because we are a small district that wants to offer a full program to our students. We have six teachers teaching outside their regular credential authorization for part of their day. These teachers have completed extra training in a special area and the District Teacher Assignment Committee, as allowed by law, found them competent to teach the subject based on college coursework, experience and observation.

6 Time In School 
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The 1999-2000 school year consists of 180 days from September through June. Regular school days provide 350 minutes of instruction, exceeding the State minimum.

Each Wednesday, school is released 60 minutes early for teacher meetings, student doctor appointments, and parent conferences.

Minimum Days are called before holidays, for final examination schedules, for teacher training programs, and parent conferences. Santa Lucia will have 14 minimum days in 1999-2000. Minimum Days exceed the required State criterion of 240 minutes for grades 6 through 8.

In-service days were held 3 days of the school year in 1998-99, during which time teachers attend training sessions on topics such as remedial reading, use of technology, and other areas of emphasis for student learning.

Santa Lucia School directly instructed students for 59,890 minutes in the school year, which is 5,890 minutes more than the State minimum.

7 Textbooks and Materials 
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Santa Lucia School sets a high priority on ensuring that there are sufficient textbooks and other instructional materials to support each program. These instructional materials are selected from State-adopted lists and are supplemented with extensive quantities of resources in each classroom. Audio visual and technology equipment are used frequently to enhance instruction. Accommodations for the Limited English Proficient students are being made in many ways through the use of Spanish and additional English materials and specially-designed instructional methodologies. New State-adopted math textbooks have been purchased for the 1999-2000 school year.

8 Counseling and Student Support Services 
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Students at Santa Lucia receive an adequate level of special support services from a highly qualified staff, which includes a part-time school nurse, speech therapist, hearing and vision screening specialist, psychologist, and a San Luis Obispo County Mental Health drug counselor.

9 Substitute Teachers 
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Santa Lucia School has very little difficulty in obtaining qualified substitute teachers to cover for teachers who are absent from school. An extra effort is made to use substitute teachers who are trained in the same subject area as the absent teacher. There is always a demand for qualified substitute teachers at Santa Lucia, so that regular staff can be afforded the opportunity to attend professional growth conferences and seminars.

10 School Facilities and Safety 
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Eighty-four percent (84%) of the parents responding to the parent survey believe that Santa Lucia offers a safe learning environment. There was no significant crime or vandalism acts on campus during the 1998-99 school year.

The school is staffed by one full-time custodian and a full-time maintenance man. The custodian performs basic cleaning operations in every classroom each day, while the maintenance man performs needed repairs to the school site.

The district has a comprehensive Emergency Preparedness Plan in place to handle all types of school-wide emergencies. The students of Santa Lucia School practice fire drills and earthquake drills throughout the school year.

The continued growth at Santa Lucia has created a need for additional classrooms to maintain the high quality programs currently being provided to the students. The District-approved Master Building Plan calls for additional classroom space, a multi-purpose/cafeteria, additional restrooms and a music room to be built at Santa Lucia as enrollment increases and as State and District funds allow. The Grammar School will continue to use two classrooms at Santa Lucia to ease overcrowded conditions at their site.

11 Teacher Evaluation 
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Teachers at Santa Lucia School are evaluated on a regular basis by the Principal. The agreement adopted by the Governing Board and the Teachers' Association conforms with all required mandates by the State.

The teachers at Santa Lucia demonstrate a high level of competence with a variety of appropriate strategies that accommodate the diversity of student abilities at grades 6-8. Lessons are engaging and actively involve students. Hands-on learning and assignments, real life situations, a variety of questioning strategies, assignments of individual and group projects, and a wealth of instructional materials including technology are used throughout the school. In posing questions, teachers use a variety of levels of difficulty. Accountability for student work is expected both in class and outside of school through homework. Student responsibility for all assignments is seen as a very positive strength by parents and teachers.

12 Discipline and Climate for Learning 
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Santa Lucia provides a disciplined and stimulating learning environment for all students. Last year a committee of teachers, administrators, parents, and students developed a comprehensive discipline and dress code policy and a positive reinforcement program which was adopted by the School Board in July 1999.

As a middle grade school we not only instruct students in basic academic subjects, we also begin the process of preparing students for the high school experience. The main focus of this process is to build responsibility in each student, so that they will be able to get their homework done on time, get to class on time, develop good study skills, and act in a responsible manner.

There are many subjects and programs at Santa Lucia that are designed to help students reach these goals; for example: Skills for Adolescence, a class in study skills, leadership class, the lunch-bunch program, the student center, School Improvement-sponsored trips to plays, and Associated Student Body (ASB) activities. The climate of the school reflects an academic focus, with high standards for excellence in coursework and behavior. Rewards, recognition and incentives are provided to students, while realistic consequences are used as needed to keep students on a positive course. The teachers treat the students with warmth, good humor, and firmness. The staff at Santa Lucia is committed to providing a well-rounded program to enable each child to develop and become a productive citizen in tomorrow's world.

13 Training and Curriculum Improvement 
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An effective process for staff development and curriculum improvement is planned and implemented by teachers and administrators. Instructional strategies accommodate diverse learning styles, interests, and developmental readiness of the middle grade student. The utilization of hands-on activities, real-life situations, questioning strategies, individual and group projects for History Day, the Science Fair, Math Renaissance, and the Art Fair are evidence of these hands-on activities. Offerings are in place to allow students to fully develop their own personal characteristics. There is also time for needed physical activity both in and outside of the classroom.

The staff volunteer three days per week to provide an after school study program and keep the computer lab open.

The goal of the curriculum committee and Program Quality Review (PQR) process is to "enable the entire school community to focus, through extensive discussion, on how curriculum and instruction in our school can be fully engaged in a high quality thinking, meaning-centered curriculum." Through this ongoing process the staff has engaged in continual self-review to determine what students are doing and learning. For example, the Leadership Team found that the Math Department has developed a highly motivated curriculum aligned with the State Framework and new State standards. As evidenced in the final report, students are performing at a very high level. 

The findings go on to state, "The Leadership Team confirmed that efforts are being made by the Math teachers to meet the different levels of abilities of each student. With the use of new math textbooks and additional activities and instructional materials that complement the new State standards for Math, all 8th grade students are now taking Algebra, either in a one- or two-year program. The students at Santa Lucia participate in two Math contests as an integral part of the emphasis on high quality Math curriculum."

The main objectives of the three-year plan are to continue stressing a strong academic program, improvement in STAR test scores, instructional strategies that accommodate diverse learning styles, technology education, and interests and developmental readiness of middle grade students. For the 1999-2000 school year, a new program has been implemented with a focus on improving the students' reading and math skills as well as increasing their STAR test results. Identified students are given intensive instruction in basic reading and math.

14 Quality of Instruction and Leadership 
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The overall quality of the leadership and instructional programs at Santa Lucia is excellent. The curriculum is appropriately aligned with State Frameworks and model curriculum guidelines for all students. The staff and administration of Santa Lucia School are committed to a high quality of education for all children. The quest of the staff is to reach the highest degree of excellence for themselves as well as for the students with whom they come in contact each and every day.

SANTA LUCIA SCHOOL * Denis M. de Clercq, Principal 
For additional information, please call the school office: (805)927-3693