Menlo’s elementary & middle schools earn “As”

All of Menlo’s five elementary and middle schools ranked in the top 10th percentile in the California State Department of Education’s academic performance ranking. La Entrada and Los Lomitas both received a 10 in two categories, statewide rank and against similar schools. In the same categories, Encinal received 10/7; Laurel 10/5; Oak Knoll 10/9 and Hillivew 10/9.

“How a school is faring in comparison to all schools in the state or to those similar in nature is of vital importance to parents, teachers, education advocates, and the business community who are all interested in student performance,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. “This information gives the public additional knowledge about how their schools compare to other schools in their region and statewide.”

A school’s statewide rank is based on the school’s Base API and is calculated separately for three types of schools: elementary, middle, and high schools. Ranks are established by deciles.Each decile contains 10 percent of all schools of each type.

The similar schools rank is similar to the statewide rank, except that each school is ranked relative to a group of 100 schools determined to be similar to the comparison school based on certain school, student, and teacher characteristics. The school’s similar schools rank is the decile where that school’s Base API falls compared with the Base APIs of the 100 other similar schools in the comparison group.

More details about the school rankings are available on the State Department of Education website.