- National Center for Urban School Transformation
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- ncust@sdsu.edu
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FAMILY: The word heard most often by students, parents and staff when describing their school, Danbrook Elementary School, located in Anaheim, California. This culture is celebrated and spoken of with pride and respect. Relationships with students, families, and colleagues are nurtured intentionally. Partnerships with the community are strong and resources are found for any student or family experiencing barriers that may be contributing to a student’s success at school. Ask about the Danbrook Boutique, the campus shop that provides clothing and supplies to needy Danbrook families. There’s nothing too big of a struggle that this FAMILY can’t figure out together.
Danbrook teachers are dedicated and driven. They believe that all students can learn at high levels with their facilitation. Collaboration happens amongst them with the belief that they are better with each other, and greater rigor and challenge comes with focused time planning together. Teachers believe that immediate intervention is a game changer when it comes to students mastering rigorous content. The school’s Learning Center has become a vital system that bridges that support for struggling students and their goal of closing the achievement gap.
2017, 2018 California PBIS Coalition’s System of Recognition – Silver Award
2019, 2020 California PBIS Coalition’s System of Recognition – Gold Award
2019 Star Honor Roll School
2021 California PBIS Coalition’s System of Recognition – Platinum Award
2021 Kindness Certified School
Feaster Charter Middle School is a truly magical place located in Chula Vista, California; It’s a place where students love to learn, parents are proud to send their children, and teachers cannot imagine working anywhere else. With STEM and VAPA focus areas, FCMS students are provided the opportunities to participate daily in electives that keep them excited about school, with choices like financial literacy, hydroponic farming, film editing and photography and theater and dance, to name a few. Students have weekly Mindlab experiences where they are able to connect their classroom learning to focused professional skills. Mindlab lessons are designed to expose students to realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional experiences, with academic challenges grounded in State Standards. These engaging, hands-on lessons are designed by dynamic teachers at FCMS who are masters at collaborative planning that is driven by what is most exciting and most likely to insure success for all students. The culture of Feaster Charter is felt the moment one walks through the gates; Love, high expectations, and magic.
2015 NCUST America’s Best School Award
2016 Gold Ribbon School in Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) School in 1st – 6th. Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math (STEAM) School in Tk, K, 7th, & 8th. Dual Immersion Program in TK-6th
2019-2022 Apple Distinguished School
2022 Community School Partnership Planning Grant
2022 Health Education Framework Grant
Hanna Early College High School is the Flagship of Brownsville Independent School District. It has a rich cultural heritage with generations of well-educated graduates who have and are pursuing higher educational opportunities becoming responsible citizens in our changing global society. Students attending Hanna are encouraged to enroll in a variety of Honors, Advanced Placement (AP) or dual enrollment courses. The 2023 graduating class will have fifty-three (53) students graduate with a high school diploma and an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree. The school is working to increase this number as they support incoming 8th graders to take and pass the college qualifying test in the spring. Teachers collaborate daily. They take turns modeling lessons and strategies they use, analyze data from a variety of assessments to determine where students are and where weak areas are evident so that instruction can be spiraled. Hanna has a tradition of excellence and an atmosphere of collaboration.
2017 Washington Post rated Homer Hanna as a “Most Challenging High School in the Nation”
2019-20 Educational Results Partnership Honor Roll School
2018-2019 and 2021-2022 7 Distinction Designation from the Texas Education Agency. The ONLY high school in Brownsville ISD to obtain all 7 designations.
2018-19 Voted the Brownsville Herald’s “Favorite High School” Reader’s Choice Award
2020 NCUST America’s Best School Award
Homer Hanna students have won distinction in band, visual arts, choir, dance team, theater, Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps, science fair competitions, history fair competitions, chess team competitions, and various athletic competitions.
At Jess Harben Elementary in Richardson, Texas, educators seek to “unlock potential, provide opportunities, and enable dreams…for every student.” One evidence of success is that Jess Harben students (from every demographic group) outperform statewide percentages of students who meet state standards. Teacher collaboration is focused directly on helping children learn rigorous state standards; however, the curriculum includes rich opportunities for students to learn and enjoy art, music, drama, and physical education. Lessons aim to produce critical thinkers, problem solvers, communicators, and individuals who understand the world in which they live. At Jess Harben, students from various racial/ethnic backgrounds, language backgrounds, family incomes, and religious heritages come together in a positive, engaging learning community. Children from prekindergarten through sixth grade are learning to value and respect themselves and each other. Parents eagerly send their children to Jess Harben because they believe that the school personnel have created a special environment where their children feel welcome, celebrated, and loved.
2021 Most Outstanding Healthy Zone Exemplary school award
2021-2022 3 Distinctions from the State of Texas: Academic Achievement in Reading, Math, Post Secondary Readiness
At Northwest Early College High School (NWECHS), 100% of the students graduate with a high school diploma and an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree. Through planning and persistence, NWECHS is able to have all their students prepared to transfer to the major of their choosing at a four-year institution and graduate on time. All core curriculum classes in Math, English, Social Studies, and Science are taught at the PreAP, Advanced Placement (AP), Dual Credit or Dual Enrollment levels. Students receive dual credit through El Paso Community College and dual enrollment through the University of Texas for their core classes and many electives. Students know that being a member of the NWECHS community requires them to put in the hard work required to obtain their AA degree, but they also know that they are supported by a larger community. Teachers collaborate with each other and incorporate different learning protocols that ensure content is learned by every type of learner. Teachers engage in consistent conferencing, calibration, and mutual goal development while sharing across both content areas and grade levels.
2022 Rated an “A” campus by the Texas Education Agency and earned distinctions in science, social studies, closing the gap and postsecondary readiness.
2018 National Blue Ribbon School
2018, 2019, 2021 Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles Female Diversity Award
2022 Accelerating Women’s Success and Mastery in Computer Science Honor Roll
Four National Board Certified Teachers (out of 19 faculty members) which is more than any other campus in the region.
Top 3 Schools in El Paso County per U.S. News & World Report
At Patrick Henry Preparatory School in the Borough of Manhattan, NYC, the evidence of a focus on powerful student learning and high levels of rigor can be observed throughout their classrooms. The students succeed both academically and socially. Patrick Henry Preparatory has been recognized over many years as one of the highest performing New York City Community Public Schools. ELA and Math State Test Proficiency results for Grades 3-8 have continued to show improvement each year. ELA State Test results increased from 62.3% in 2017 to 80.5% in 2022. Similarly, the Mathematics State Test results for proficiency increased from 66.8% in 2017 to 79.7% in 2022. Teachers work collaboratively to create opportunities for all students to learn at the highest levels with expectations of excellence at every grade level and in all classes. A positive transformational culture of continuous improvement is evident in all aspects of the school community.
Recognized in Clara Hempill’s ‘NYC Best Elementary Schools’ Editions 1, 2, 3, and 4
2018 America’s Best Schools Award Winner
2021-2023 Niche’s Best Elementary Schools List
NYCDOE ‘Recognition Status’ for schools demonstrating high performance and outstanding data
Great Schools Recognition for 10/10 Excellent ranking
NYSED Top 8% of Elementary and Middle School
Senator Rodriguez Proclamation for NCUST ‘America’s Best Urban Schools Award’ and Scholastic Achievement
Councilwoman Diana Ayala Proclamation-Certificate of Merit
lJS News & World Report recognized and ranked PHP as one of the “Best Middle Schools”
Daily News ‘Manhattan Top of Class’
Our Town ‘OTTY’ Award for Leadership
Named ‘One of the Best Elementary Schools on Upper East Side (Our Town Newspaper)
Highest Level Performance on New York City ‘Quality Review’ -Well-Developed
Outstanding Eighth Grade Performance Rate on Regents: Integrated Algebra, Living Environment Regents, and Spanish HS Proficiency Exam
Recognized for English Language Arts Program -Our Town Newspaper
2023 Featured in the NCUST book When Black Students Excel: How Schools Can Engage and Empower Black Students
The Caton Elementary School PS 249 located in Brooklyn, NYC has consistently demonstrated the highest levels of student achievement. The high levels of teacher planning and rigorous expectations is evident throughout the school. The Caton School PS 249 has many accomplishments and accolades including being recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School in 2021. The school focus on powerful and consistent instructional strategies including methods that strengthen a reading and writing community of learners, a balanced math program that helps students to focus on conceptual understanding through problem solving and real-world application has enabled high levels of success across all grades. Student engagement is a priority across all grades and the path to college begins in Pre-Kindergarten.
2018 Title I National Distinguished Award for High Performance
2018 and 2019 Reward School Awards by New York State Department of Education
2021 National Blue Ribbon Award
2021 Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership
All expectations are high expectations at the World Languages Institute (WLI) in the Fort Worth Independent School District. At this two-time America’s Best School Award Winner, all courses are either honors, accelerated, advanced placement, or dual enrollment. All the students develop proficiency in English and Spanish. (Many social studies and science classes are taught in Spanish, even to students who never spoke Spanish before coming to WLI). Many students pursue a third language: either Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, French, German, or American Sign Language. Many of the students earn the Seal of Bilingualism/Biliteracy. It is important to note, however, that failure rates at WLI are remarkably low. Teachers have recognized the importance of providing students abundant support to help ensure that almost all students achieve outstanding successes in courses and extra-curricular activities, graduate, and proceed to post-secondary opportunities. The combination of high expectations and high support lead students to love their school. Students recognize that they are being prepared to be leaders who will have great opportunities to transform their lives, their communities, and their world.
2020, 2021,2022 100% Graduation rate
2022 42 seniors over 5 million in scholarships
2022 46% AP scholars – 98% College, Career, Military Readiness,
2021 State Distinction Received – 96% of students met passing criteria on at least 1 AP exam
2021 89% of students qualified for UT Austin Dual Enrollment credits in at least one course. -90% Algebra I, 91% Biology, 94% English I, 93% English II and 96% US History for high school state assessments.
UIL -Student group earned 2nd place at Regionals in Literary Criticism and 1 student earned 2nd place in Literary Criticism in the individual Regional UIL competition.
Congressional Gold Medalist
Whiz Quiz District Champion (2020), Runner-Up (2021), Finalist (2023)
District FAFSA Champion and MVP
AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award
Spelling Bee, Fort Worth ISO Area Winner
established in 2005, NCUST strives to help urban school districts and their partners transform urban schools into places where all students achieve academic proficiency, evidence a love of learning, and graduate well prepared to succeed in post-secondary education, the workplace, and their communities.
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