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The GGUSD is the second largest among 28 public school districts in Orange
County, ranks 11th in size among 1,000 school districts in California,
and is the 88th largest school district of 14,800 in the U.S. The district
employs more than 5,000 certificated and classified staff and operates
70 schools — 47 elementary, 10 intermediate, 7 high schools, 2 continuation
schools, 2 adult education centers, and 2 special education schools. The
2004-05 budget is $422.7 million, making the district the largest enterprise
in Garden Grove.
The district encompasses most of Garden Grove and portions of Santa Ana,
Westminster, Anaheim, Stanton, Fountain Valley, and Cypress. The district
serves more than 50,400 K-12 pupils and 16,000 adult education students.
The GGUSD provides comprehensive educational services for K-12 students
and adults in safe and well-maintained schools staffed by quality teachers
and support staff meeting the highest professional standards. Adult education,
English language development programs, ROP, fine arts education, Gifted
and Talented Education, and special education are among the many support
programs provided by the district. The district maintains the Class Size
Reduction Program — trimming class size to a maximum of 20 students
for all classes in grades 1-3 and grades K-1 and 3-4 combination classes.
All schools in the district focus on a core curriculum of basic skills
development in reading, writing, science, history-social science, and
mathematics, while recognizing the importance of offering varied educational
experiences through comprehensive music and visual arts instruction, electives,
athletics, and leadership development. Computers and other technologies
in classrooms, school libraries, and dedicated laboratories complement
the delivery of the basic curriculum and provide the foundation for courses
in computer applications and programming languages. All sites connect
to the Wide Area Network, enabling classrooms, schools and offices to
exchange information electronically and have access to the Internet. The
system is the largest of its type among Orange County school districts.
Early last school year, the district opened Clinton Corner Family Campus,
a one-stop education center providing free adult English language-citizenship
classes, preschool and school readiness services, family literacy programs,
a community lending library, a computer lab, and academic after-school
programs in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Garden Grove.
Ongoing funding is provided though the California and Orange County Children
and Families commissions (Prop. 10 tobacco tax revenue) and the statewide
School Readiness Initiative, adult education and state Community Based
English Tutoring funds, state preschool, and the Boys and Girls Club of
Garden Grove.
The district is recognized for its efficiency and conservative fiscal
policies, operating on a very lean management structure in which only
a small percentage of the budget is directed to overhead and administration.
The GGUSD, in fact, devotes a greater share of its budget to direct classroom
services than any district in the state, with only 4 percent of the budget
devoted to administrative salaries, which is less than the state average
for all school districts.
- The Garden Grove Unified School District is the recipient of the
2004 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the annual award honoring the
nation’s finest urban school system. As this year’s winner,
the district earned $500,000 in college scholarships for graduating
seniors. The Broad Prize, the richest award in public education, showcases
urban school districts across the U.S. with the greatest success in
raising overall test scores while at the same time reducing achievement
gaps across ethnic lines and between high and low income students. The
GGUSD was a finalist for the Broad prize in 2003 and 2002, earning the
district $125,000 in scholarship money both years.
- Stanley Elementary School is one of the 11 Orange County schools
among 39 schools in California chosen as 2004 No Child Left Behind –
Blue Ribbon Schools. The program sponsored by the U.S. Department of
Education (USDE) recognizes schools that are academically superior in
their states or that demonstrate significant gains in student achievement.
- Allen, Excelsior, and Carrillo elementary schools were named 2004
California Distinguished Schools, representing the top five-percent
of schools statewide. Distinguished schools are selected based on overall
school quality, test scores, and growth on state and federal performance
measures.
- Fourteen GGUSD schools, have been designated ‘Title I Achieving
Schools’ for exceeding expectations in meeting state standards
on academic assessments despite having high student poverty levels.
- More than 80 percent of GGUSD seniors continue their education after
graduation.
- Based on data from the California Safe Schools Assessment, GGUSD
schools are some of the safest in the state and county. The study revealed
incident rates for the district are more favorable than the total statewide
district average and the total statewide unified school district average
in all reporting categories. In comparison with Orange County incident
rates, the district reported fewer incidents per 1,000 students in five
categories (drug/alcohol, battery, possession of a weapon, property
crimes, and dollar loss per student) and closely equaled the county
average in all other categories.
- To help ensure students stay in school, the district opened the county’s
first Truancy Reduction Center in 1994 in partnership with the Garden
Grove Police Department.
- The district’s graduation rate of 96 percent is better than
the state and county averages.
- The district’s SAT math score exceeds state and national averages.
- All GGUSD high schools have earned full, six-year accreditation from
the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
- Ninety-four percent, or all but four of 65 GGUSD schools, achieved
their 2004 federal performance criteria (Adequate Yearly Progress) of
the No Child Left Behind Act compared to a 64-percent average for California.
- Results for the California High School Exit Exam given last year’s
(03-04) sophomores, indicate the district pass rates exceeded the state
in both math and language arts and topped the Orange County pass rate
average in math.
- On the state standards test results for 2003-04, more district students
performed in the top two levels (proficient and advanced) than the state
in all grades in math and all but three grades in English-language arts
– where the difference was just one point each – yet the
district has more than twice as many English learners as the state.
- The district has made major investments in technology including the
continued expansion of a Wide Area Network – enabling all schools
and offices to exchange information via e-mail and have access to the
Internet.
- Reflecting the district’s fiscal responsibility and conservative
budget practices, the GGUSD has “zero” bonded indebtedness.
District facilities are refurbished and maintained on established cycles,
and funded on a pay-as-you-go basis without resorting to long-term borrowing
with interest by taxpayers.
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