News

Monday, September 27, 2010

The root of McKinley’s student achievement is bright blue, just ask Principal Emilio Handall

How does a principal celebrate a whopping 48-point Academic Performance Index (API) score increase, raising the school score to 748? McKinley Elementary School and Principal Emilio Handall will celebrate the students’ exceptional one-year score gain when the principal unveils his new hair color. The students will get their first glimpse at 11:45 a.m. this morning, when the principal goes out on yard duty.

McKinley’s school colors are blue and white and, following two bleaching sessions this weekend, the principal is now sporting a vibrant shade of royal blue, instead of his usual black hair.

According to the California Department of Education: “The Academic Performance Index (API) measures the performance and growth of schools and districts based on the test scores of students in grades 2 through 12. The California Department of Education (CDE) calculates the API and disseminates the results directly to schools and districts. The API is a single number on a scale of 200 to 1,000 that indicates how well students in a school or district performed on the previous spring’s tests. An API is calculated for the whole school plus its “numerically significant subgroups,” including socioeconomically disadvantaged students, English learners, and students with disabilities.” On a scale of 200 to 1,000, the goal is for schools to reach 800. For more information on the API, go to http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us

McKinley Elementary School is located across from Santa Barbara City College. McKinley Elementary School’s address is 350 Loma Alta, Santa Barbara, CA 93109, (805) 966-9926.