Gretchen Whitney High School
Cerritos, California
It is easy to improve academic performance and test scores when a school is scoring low. Improvement is very difficult when your scores are at the top to begin with, but that is what this school has done. Every year since the Governor of California instituted the Academic Performance Index, Whitney High School has had the highest API of any school in the state. Even so, they actually improved this year (from 956 out of a possible 1000 to a new high of 964.) This score is 110 points higher than the state’s 854-point goal for the school.
The Statewide Testing and Reporting system (STAR) is not the only standardized measure of their academic excellence. All students at Whitney take SAT I in preparation for college admission and mean scores remain high at 1327. Each year, at least one student scores a perfect 1600 – with three such scores in one year! Many students repeat SAT I if they get lower than 1500. Studying hard provides pleasing results.
The Advanced Placement exams provide another measure of academic excellence. Nine AP courses are offered and have high pass rates. Last year, 346 students in the 11th & 12th grades took 646 AP exams. More than two-thirds of these scores were a 4 or 5. Perhaps the hardest AP test is BC Calculus and 100% of the 32 students taking this exam received a score of 4 or 5.
Whitney is a public high school offering a choice for district students who want to go to the university. Many college-bound students choose to go to their local high school because they want to play football or because their friends go there. (Whitney has every inter-scholastic sport except football and wrestling.) Some people think Whitney has high test scores just because they have all bright students. However, in his book about Whitney, School of Dreams, author Ed Humes includes research done by Educational Testing Service that compares Whitney’s academic test scores with similar students throughout the nation. Mr. Humes points out that, in the top quartile of students (at or above the 76th percentile on the PSAT) 100 % of Whitney students pass the AP U.S. History test with a score of 4 or 5. The national average for the same group is 83%. The same disparity is shown in the lower deciles. In fact, the national average for the 46-50 PSAT range is 21% but is more than twice as high (56%) at Whitney.
There are many reasons accounting for Whitney’s academic excellence: teacher dedication, students’ hard work, a culture of high expectations, and a great deal of external support for the school. They are happy with the academic success but that is only a small part of their overall excellence!
With limited fiscal resources and limited facilities, Whitney has become a model of public school excellence. Whitney is a safe, happy, loving, caring, and moral place for young people to grow, learn and mature. Individual differences are accepted and honored while there is a culture of mutual respect, commitment to learning, and sense of adventure.
As you wander the halls and randomly ask students what they like about Whitney, a common answer (an answer you felt before you asked the question) is “the sense of family.” It is that sense which makes the school physically, as well as emotionally, safe for teenagers. There are no fights at Whitney. (There was a fight five years ago. The Korean television station heard about it and appeared on campus before the students were suspended. This year one boy pushed another in anger but a third quickly stood between them and told them not to fight.) Students help each other and take joy in each other’s accomplishments. They are cared for and nurtured to independence by all the adults on campus.
School safety was tested on December 1, 2004. Six armed bank robbers were holed up in a home next to Whitney’s student parking lot. The home was surrounded by Sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents and the school had its first “lock down.” After dismissal, many students were still on campus – so, administrators and teachers guarded the front gate.
About 4:15 p.m. the six robbers bolted from the back of the house and three ran directly toward the school’s front entrance. The adults quickly herded as many students as they could inside the gate and then formed a human wall between the escaping robbers and the children. The robbers ran directly toward the students, perhaps seeking a hostage. The staff blocked them and knocked two to the ground. Two of these amazing educators held one suspect on the ground while a third and fourth educator held another suspect down. A fifth educator chased the third suspect away from the building, and a sixth educator ran to the police to get help. All six robbers were apprehended and found to be twice convicted ex-cons. Whitney staff literally risked their lives, with no thought of their own safety, to protect the students. No one was surprised.
The school is a happy place. The activities program is the heart and soul of our campus - there are special interest clubs (robotics, space set, chess club etc) as well as religious (e.g. Islamic Awareness Club, Jesus Club, etc). Club Kaibigan (Philipino), Shanti (Indian) and the Chinese and Korean Clubs are a few of the ethnic groups. These groups are open to and attended by all cultures. It is heart warming to sit in the audience for the annual PCN (Philipino Cultural Night) and see White, Black, Hispanic, Chinese, Indian, Korean and other students performing skits and traditional Philipino dances. Most students were born in this country but it is the Whitney way to honor the land of parents or grandparents while learning about the history and culture of others. No matter what their heritage, these students are proud Americans. The student initiated Unity Rally is a featured story in Ed Humes book, School of Dreams. Every year, many Whitney graduates choose the military academies. Last spring the Superintendent asked a senior, now at West Point, why she wanted to enter the military. Her response was quick and sure. “I want to serve my country.”
Students are free to grow and learn at a good pace. They are free to be children when they are young and not act too old too fast. The older students help the younger ones and the seventh and eighth graders are calmer than if they were in a school by themselves. The juniors and seniors are perhaps more childlike and playful than if they were segregated. While there may be some dating among older students, romance and coupling is not the norm nor the focus of the culture. Students enjoy each other, the company and companionship of friends of both sexes.
There is a culture of learning. Study and achievement is not frowned on and one is not ostracized for doing well. Before school in the morning and after school in the evening, students sit in the hallways individually and in groups, reading, studying and doing homework. Group projects are enjoyed by all grade levels. The goal of college or university is taken for granted.
Alumni are active in campus life and provide continuous feedback. Five Whitney alums are currently teaching here. Several teachers have enrolled their own children at Whitney. Parents are welcome on campus (by both students and staff.) Some parents walk their seventh graders to class for most of that first year. No one makes fun of the students or the parents. College nights and parent meetings are all well attended.
Each year students are more involved in important decision making. They will tell you that their opinions are valued and considered. Whitney publicly holds itself accountable for making decisions based on the needs and interests of students, not on the comfort and convenience of adults.
Neil Bush, President of Ignite!Learning has visited the campus several times. He is in schools all over the country. When asked why he so often returns to Whitney his answer was simple, “because of the respect the staff has for students. I’ve never seen anything like it. Every school should be this way.”