These 7 Sacramento County elementary schools are among state’s best. What does the award mean?

The California Department of Education selected seven Sacramento County elementary schools in its first “distinguished schools” recognition since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The award honors “schools, districts and employees” that are celebrated “for their innovation, talent and success in supporting students.” A total of 356 California schools were recognized for the 2023 awards and will hold their title for two years.

Below are the Sacramento schools, among the best in the state, that made the list, and the criteria California schools must meet for the award:

Distinguished Sacramento County schools

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond announced the 2023 California Distinguished Schools on Jan. 6. Here are the Sacramento schools that made the list:

Folsom-Cordova Unified School District

• Riverview STEM Elementary
• Mangini Ranch Elementary
• Russell Ranch Elementary
• Empire Oaks Elementary
• Sandra J. Gallardo Elementary

Natomas Unified School District

• Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Elementary

Sacramento City Unified School District

• Phoebe A. Hearst Elementary

How are distinguished California schools determined?

For a school to be selected as a California distinguished school, it either needs to be actively working to “close the achievement gap” or “achieving exceptional student performance.” Both categories are determined by measuring the performance of schools through data.

As of the 2021-2022 school year, it is no longer required for schools to apply for recognition. According to the California Department of Education website, “any school that meets the eligibility criteria for the current year will be recognized as a California DS Awardee.” The distinction was not given in the last two years due to lack of student data during the pandemic.

The California Department of Education looks to the California School Dashboard and System of Support website, a portal that rates the following criteria very low, low, medium, high or very high.

Below are the performance criteria ranked:

• Chronic absenteeism
• Suspension rates
• English learner progress
• English language arts
• Mathematics

Each section is looked at closely to qualify schools into one of the two categories.

Closing Achievement Gap looks at the following data:

• Socioeconomically disadvantaged data
• Sub-group data for English language arts and mathematics
• All student group data for English language arts and mathematics
• All student group data for suspension rates
• All student group data for chronic absenteeism

Exceptional Student Performance looks at the following data:

• All student group data for English language arts and Mathematics
• All student group data fro suspension rate indicator
• All student group data for chronic absenteeism