Every member of the Dipsea Kidz running team at Sausalito's Willow Creek Academy has a different reason for taking part in the program. For eighth-grader Rachel Bordes, it's the sheer joy of running. "I've always had a passion for running," said Rachel, a Sausalito resident who has been doing so competitively for the past five years. "This is a more competitive team than others I've been in. And its members are more supportive."
For sixth-grader Isabel Godwin, the motivation is a little more personal. "I just wanted to prove to my brother that I was faster than he was," said Isabel, a Marin City resident. Isabel, Rachel and about a dozen of their fellow Willow Creek students are the first to take part in Dipsea Kidz, a fitness, education and leadership program sponsored by the Dipsea Race Foundation, which organizes the venerable Dipsea Race on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais each year.
June 27, 2011
This is a big honor. We are talking about the entire state.
There are more than 800 charter schools in California. The University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education rated all of them and then picked its top 10.
And Willow Creek was at No. 6.
This is an honor that students, teachers, adminstrators, parents and board members should share. The ranking also is recognition for those who have guided Willow Creek's growth over the past decade, when it began out of parents' frustration over the state policies and restrictions under which other Sausalito Marin City School District schools had to operate.
Sausalito's Willow Creek Academy is one of the top 10 charter schools in California, according to a report released Wednesday by the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education.
The report, compiled by the school's Center on Educational Governance, focuses on the degree to which charter schools could be held accountable for their students' education — in particular, on the relationship between the amount of money the school spends on each of its students and how those students perform on state standardized tests.
Willow Creek, which ranked No. 6 on the USC list, scored high in what the report called "academic achievement."
"To be recognized in their 10th year of existence as one of the top 10 in the state of California is remarkable and commendable," said Debra Bradley, superintendent of the Sausalito Marin City District, who credited the school administration and board of directors with "developing a program that meets the needs of student learners, embracing diversity and instilling enriching activities that allow students to be motivated in their respective areas of interest."
The school's Academic Performance Index score has grown from 674 in 2003 to 882 in 2010, making it one of the higher-ranking schools in Marin. It is one of two dozen schools in the county that scored a perfect 10 in school rankings based on test scores handed out by the state Department of Education this month. The school, with about 220 students, was named a California Distinguished School by the state in 2010.
