58 outstanding programs win 2012 Golden Bell Awards
Awards luncheon will conclude Annual Conference events Dec. 1
Published: November 7, 2012
CSBA’s Golden Bell Awards program is renowned for recognizing exemplary programs operated by school districts and county offices of education. This 33rd year of Golden Bell Awards go to programs in 18 major categories that are innovative and sustainable, make a demonstrated difference for students, and focus on the commitment to meeting the needs of all students. Each program will receive an award at a Dec. 1 luncheon ceremony during CSBA’s Annual Education Conference and Trade Show in San Francisco.
“California schools continue to produce excellence even in these uncertain fiscal times. The Golden Bell Awards exemplify that excellence and the determination of school leaders to serve California's children with award-winning programs and services,” said Angelo Williams, Ed.D., CSBA assistant executive director for Policy and Programs.
This year the full-service community schools strategy was incorporated into the Partnerships and Collaboration category. One winner, the Escondido Union School District’s CARE Youth Project, exemplifies the full-service community school model with its districtwide focus on connecting students and families with social-emotional and behavioral services available in the region. Since the program began in 2009, attendance is up, suspensions and unexcused absences are down, and more students are involved in after-school and leadership activities.
Programs that are helping schools close the achievement gap garnered the most Golden Bells. Eleven awards go to California districts that are helping all their students achieve through after-school programs, mentoring, instructional interventions, scheduling changes, use of data and other means. One highly rated program is Whittier Union High School District’s Students Saving Students academic mentoring program, which pairs students in higher grades with freshmen throughout the year. The percentage of students receiving a D or F grade has dropped 19 percent, and on-time graduation rates are up 10 percent, while the district’s API score has grown 100 points.
Del Mar Union School District’s interest in the conditions of children is evident in its Child Development Center Preschool, which blended the district’s special education and mainstream preschool programs; it’s a winner in the Early Childhood Education category.
“I was amazed to see infants sitting around the table [in special seats] listening to stories being read by a credentialed reading specialist! Amazing!” wrote one application validator. “The infants were thoroughly involved in the books they were listening to. This school community is definitely getting their young ones off to a great start!”
Space does not permit a review of each winner, but one reviewer probably said it best when she visited the Assistive Technology and Sensory Integration program at Lemon Grove School District:
“I don't feel the application really does justice for the events taking place at that school. You can't put dedication, compassion and a love for that type of teaching onto paper,” she wrote.
“An amazing staff doing amazing things for amazing students.”
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