Arroyo High School is one of four schools in the San Gabriel Valley area that have been named a California Distinguished School by the California Department of Education. According to a February 29th news release from the California Department of Education, California Distinguished Schools are identified using several criteria to determine eligibility based on the school’s performance on state indicators. Arroyo received the award for closing the achievement gap. 

The Distinguished School Award is given to middle and high schools each year. This year, 293 schools were awarded out of a total of 10,000 schools. 

According to the California Department of Education news release, schools recognized for closing the achievement gap enroll at least 40 percent of their students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and, in addition to demonstrating exemplary overall performance in ELA and math, achieve accelerated academic growth for one or more historically underserved student groups.

“I was very ecstatic, elated, very grateful that we were recognized to receive this award. I absolutely think we deserve it, we’ve worked very hard,” said Assistant Principal Dr. Steve Ortiz.

 The substantial improvements the school has made with students, test results, fewer suspensions, and many other factors are the reasons for this award. These achievements and progress can be found in the California dashboard. The dashboard shows how Arroyo is doing academically well and also culturally well as a school. 

The cause of our decrease in suspension has been due to Arroyo doing things a little differently this year. The goal for the students is not to be punished or removed from the classroom, instead “Our goal is to teach and to help students learn from their mistakes. Sometimes that’s difficult because they can do some harsh things and that’s where we have to consider suspension” said principal Mr. Gabriel Flores. 

Principal Flores plans on celebrating this achievement with the entire school once the award is officially presented. This award is not only for the schools, but it is also a way to represent us and our progress throughout these years.

“I think it’s cool we were recognized as a distinguished school, and I hope this award encourages us as a community to do better,” said Junior Elena Escobar 

Although Arroyo earned this outstanding award, the challenge will be keeping this recognition as a distinguished school.

 “Our achievements and the success that we have here at Arroyo High School, think of it as a trophy, you get a trophy for winning, but how long can you stay winners?” said Mr. Flores.

Besides the test scores and the student’s work, the Arroyo staff is a huge part of this recognition because of teachers who do their best every day to teach and make all students feel welcome at Arroyo. 

“We do our best to try to work with students because we know the best place that they can be is on campus every day,” said Mr. Flores