Centennial High School

School Information

School Name: Centennial High School
School Address:1820 Rimpau Avenue, Corona, CA 92881
School Phone: 951.739.5670
School Fax: 951.739.5693
Principal: Sam Buenrostro
Principal E-Mail: sbuenrostro@cnusd.k12.ca.us

Demographics

Number of Students: 2,910
Number eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch:44%
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 13%
Percent of Special Education: 9%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White: 27%
• Black: 9%
• Hispanic: 51%
• Asian/Pacific Island: 7%
• Other: 6%

Student Achievement Data:

Centennial is a comprehensive high school serving an ethnically diverse student body of 2,910. Recent statistics show that over 51% of our students are Hispanic, 27% White, 9% African America, 7% Asian and the remaining 6% from various other ethnicities. It is estimated that over 30 different languages are currently spoken on campus. Approximately 49.6% of our student population qualify for free or reduced lunch. Currently, we have 311 students who are English Learners and of this group 20 have been reclassified as Fluent English Proficient. Centennial has an additional 625 students classified as Fluent English Proficient. This year 576 students are receiving Special Education services and approximately 1790 student seats are enrolled in at least one honors level class including Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate/Middle Years Program. For the last seven years Centennial students have continued to improve test scores despite our fluctuating enrollment and changing population percentages. Riverside County continues to be one of the fastest growing counties in California.

In 2005, Centennial began using the DuFour Professional Learning Community (PLC) principles. Since then, Centennial has sent over 90% of its staff to PLC workshops and trainings sponsored by Solution Tree or Riverside County Office of Education. Centennial also sent a team to visit Adlai Stevenson High School in Illinois. Centennial added an advisement period for students to receive tutoring and support in areas of identified need. During the past three years Centennial been recognized as a Riverside County Model of Excellence School. Centennial High School also was recognized by the Riverside County of Riverside in awarding Sam Buenrostro the 2009 County Principal of the Year, and Sunni Kaura, science teacher, the 2009 County Teacher of the Year. The Science Department was recently honored with a Golden Bell award by the State of California.

Centennial takes great pride in the progress of our overall test scores having consistently exceeded our Academic Performance Index (API). Centennial has seen an increase of 121 API points during the past 7 years. Advanced Placement (AP) test takers have increased from 372 to 806 students. These core indicators show that Centennial is making progress towards our school-wide goals of improving math, reading and writing skills of all students through standards-based instruction.

2009 Accountability Progress Report data reveals 195 Academic Performance Index (API) points of growth for Centennial High School over the past 10 years. The California State average growth is 113 API points for high schools during this period. More impressively Centennial’s:

African-American population has grown 223 points;
Hispanic population has grown 217 points;
Economically Disadvantaged population has grown 214 points; and,
White population has grown 179 points.

School API:
Our API summary for the past five years is presented below:

	2008-09	2007-08	2006-07	2005-06	2004-05
Percent Tested	99	99	98	99	98
API Growth	744	724	704	696	688
API Target	5	5	5	6	7
API Base	724	704	696	688	665
Growth/Decline	20	20	8	8	23
Met Target	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

California Standards Tests
The grade level and subject area results for the past five years are presented in the tables below.
Percent of Students Scoring Proficient or Advanced:

Subject	Spring 2009		Spring 2008		Spring 2007		Spring 2006		Spring 2005
	HS	State	HS	State	HS	State	HS	State	HS	State
English 9	55	50	47	49	49	47	40	44	42	43
English 10	46	34	46	41	37	37	37	37	36	36
English 11	47	40	41	37	41	37	38	36	33	36
General Math	0	26	8	18	0	13	2	13	0	22
Algebra I	12	28	6	25	6	24	5	23	5	19
Geometry	23	26	20	24	20	34	20	26	23	26
Algebra II	31	28	20	27	16	27	18	25	11	26
High School Math	48	50	46	47	53	47	42	46	44	45
World History	37	38	33	33	25	29	26	30	25	31
US History	50	44	39	38	37	35	34	45	31	37
Biology/LifeScience	45	43	41	42	32	37	27	35	28	32
Chemistry	46	36	39	32	38	31	30	27	27	27
Earth Science	22	28	22	28	23	26	20	23	20	23
Physics	58	46	55	43	44	35	38	32	51	31

Significant Subgroup Scores / Growth Target Scores

Grade: 9-11	School	African American	Asian	English Learner	Hispanic	White
Year 05-06	696/694	658/678	856/865	583/576	630/628	773/758
Year 06-07	704/696	664/657	871/853	585/587	644/634	765/773
Year 07-08	724/709	722/671	869/871	599/596	661/652	792/770

Subgroup API continued:
Scores/ Growth Target Scores 

	SED	Special Education
Year 05-06	626/618	423/415
Year 06-07	632/630	428/442
Year 07-08	650/640	488/453

SAT Scores:
School Scores/District Scores/State Scores

Grade: 12th	Reading	Writing	Math
Year 05-06	487/477/501	492/479/501	508/494/518
Year 06-07	483/472/499	481/472/498	496/487/516
Year 07-08	491/476/499	489/470/498	514/496/515

Please comment on any aspect of the data that you believe is particularly significant.

Centennial’s API scores have increased by 121 points in the last 7 years, 622 API in 2002 compared to a 744 API in 2009, averaging 17 points of growth per year. In the past three years all CST scores have increased in all subgroups. The CST percentage of students at or above proficiency has also been rapidly increasing throughout the last three years, averaging an increase 3% per year for each subject area. Additionally, the past three years have seen student SAT I scores increase 38 points to 998; Centennial has the highest SAT test scores in the district.

Please present additional information that indicates your efforts to build a professional learning community have had a positive impact on students and/or teachers.

The staff believes our actions need to be purposeful, data driven, and collaborative. Student achievement is significantly influenced by the teachers’ perception and attitude towards his/her students, and student learning should be the central focus. During the past five years, we have incorporated a teacher collaborative schedule on Monday mornings. We are in our third year of an Advisement period where students receive intervention support by staff and peers.  All core subject staff has been trained on the Data Director system, which allows them access to important student/teacher data on semester assessments and California State Standards (CST) scores, including performance indicators for each subject area. All individual teachers and department teams set SMART goals.

Please elaborate strategies you have found to be effective in the following areas:

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

All Centennial teachers and administration have access to student data, and regularly discuss individual, classroom, and subject like results among PLC teams. Teachers utilize the new student information system (Zangle) to monitor attendance, grades, and progress on all their students. Additionally, all teachers participate in Advisement where they are able to work with their students in tutorials, remediation, and in enrichment activities. Every three weeks teachers are provided with hard copies of progress reports for each of their Advisement students.
           
Department teams have also developed: essential learning standards, pacing guides, best practice lessons, and end of semester exams. Teachers access data off the school data program (Data Director) that displays not only district assessment but also state CST’s, CAHSEE, and CELDT data. All core area PLC teams create and analyze common assessments, lessons, rubrics, etc. All departments and PLC teams design department SMART goals (based on student data), individual teacher goals, which are then reviewed throughout the year in PLC meetings and with administration.

Staff meetings are structured to look at overall school wide data, interventions, and best practices. Teachers are expected to keep a PLC binder which is provided by the administration each year and kept for artifact/evidence work for their PLC Team. Every teacher at Centennial participates in an ongoing process of identifying of the current level of student achievement, establishing SMART goals, to improve current level. Teachers are encouraged to turn in SMART goals by the fourth week and develop the essential learning by the sixth week, common formative assessments by the eighth week, review of data by tenth week. Reflection, adjustment, best practices are encouraged during PLC time.

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

The administration and counseling teams identify at-risk students and provide them with a California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) support class as early as their 9th grade year. English Learner and Students with Disabilities are monitored by their case carrier and coordinators. Students with Disabilities are also monitored through Advisement, meetings, parent conferences, and throughout the year.
           
Administrators consistently visit classrooms and provide teacher with written feedback, specifically whole class performance data, which then teachers can compare to district and school wide results.  During 2007 school year Centennial implemented a system of incentives prevention, and intervention an advisement program was also created to provide additional support to all students. Centennial’s Pyramids of Prevention and Intervention Plan encompasses groups such as Unity, Renaissance, Link Crew, and Peer Tutoring.  Centennial has effectively instituted these programs over the past 5 years which has significantly impacted teacher morale and student academic achievement.  As a result, our API has increased over the past 7 years; suspensions have decreased by one-half; and the number of students taking AP exams has increased 71%.       

Unity brings diverse groups of students together for monthly forums dealing with diversity, tolerance and acceptance; they also organize bi-monthly weekend camps. Renaissance holds Student-of-the-Month assemblies and daily “Beat the Bell” awards to recognize student achievements such as academic excellence, punctuality, and academic improvement. Link Crew is a freshman transition program that welcomes freshmen and connects them to Centennial throughout their first year. Advisement is a 25-minute period 2 days per week mandatory assistance class for all students who are in danger of failing classes with a “D” or “F”.  Every 3 weeks students and teachers are provided with updated progress reports.       

School wide tutoring is offered before/after school, lunch and during PLC time; over 200 students who attend Science tutoring every Monday before school starts. Incentives, students achieving non-failing grades, good attendance, and demonstrating responsible behavior enjoy various incentives including extended lunch time and off-campus privileges. Staff continues developing individual SMART goals as well as PLC group vertical and horizontal goals. PLC Team Leaders meet quarterly to share department successes as well as collaborate on areas of need. 95% of teachers post grades online (WebGrade). 

3. Building teacher capacity to work as members of high performing collaborative teams that focus efforts on improved learning for all students.

Centennial High School had been involved in the process of restructuring its schedule for several years. Inspired by the Professional Learning Communities principles, Centennial established a collaboration schedule in 2005. This schedule permits all teachers to engage in collaboration from 7:20 to 8:10 a.m. every Monday.     
           
More than 90% staff members have attended PLC conferences and the Leadership Team (consisting of an administrator, PLC Team Leaders, and Department Chairs) have attended PLC specific trainings and conference with the Riverside County of Education. Centennial was also part of a two year Good to Great Academy where Rick and Rebecca DuFour helped guide and coach the team.      

PLC principles have helped revitalized our teaching staff , as department and school wide scores have increased, teachers continue to fine tune lesson plans, assessments, and analyze data to fit the needs of our unique student population.  Centennial API scores have increased an average of 18 points each year.  The number of students taking AP courses has risen from 211 to 360 with the number of students taking exams has gone up from 372 to 799. CAHSEE English/Language Arts scores have increased 8% and Math has shown an increase of 17%.  Our SAT composite scores have risen 37 points.  While scores have been on the raise we have enjoyed a decrease in student suspensions from 661 prior to PLC implementation to 350 in 2006-07.  We estimate that 85% of our students participate in some type of extra-curricular activity whether it is athletics, activities, clubs, the performing arts or a combination.

During 2005-2006 school year, we began to work with the Riverside County Office of Education - PLC Connection & Good to Great Academy. We participated in the following workshops: Overviews of PLCs, Good to Great Academy, Site Leadership and Departmental Coaching, Principal Networks and Coaching, Teachers as Team Leaders, Changing School Cultures, Creating a Mission and Vision, Setting Essential Standards, Analysis of Student Work, Data and Standards Analysis, Developing Common Assessments, Pyramid Response to Intervention, Research-Based Instructional Strategies, Differentiated Instruction, Monitoring and Accountability in a PLC.

Other efforts aimed at increasing student achievement include:

• Trainings in PLC principles - 90% teachers, counselors and administrators- DuFour Seminars;
• Challenged and supported teachers to gain more information on PLC by providing articles, books and in-services;
• established norms, decided on essential learning and prioritized them;
• shared strategies and best-practices;
• created and analyzed common assessments;
• designed SMART Goals and continuously made adjustments to instruction;
• shared rubrics; aligned department pacing guides to text;
• developed a school-wide Intervention & Incentive program, with peer tutoring between classmates;
• increased the number of students attending tutoring session;
• more teachers developed class websites and WebGrade program;
• shared decisions for global issues; and,
• designated a team leader for each discipline.

List awards and recognitions your school has achieved:

• 2008 Golden Bell Award, Science
• Support Personnel Accountability Report Card, Academy Award
• Riverside Model of Excellence School 2007, 2008, 2009
• 2009 Riverside CountyPrincipal of the Year
• 2009 Riverside CountyTeacher of the Year
• 2008 & 2009 Newsweek -Top 1000 Schools in America List