Arcadia Unified School District

Club members, Dr Joel Shawn, Superintendent of AUSD and David Vannasdall, High School Administration both made excellent presentations of the current affairs of our public schools in Arcadia.

Joel was the first speaker and stated that they were going to do a different style program.  Upon this announcement every member was handed a response mode clicker.  These hand held “clickers” are currently being used in the lower class grades.  This allows the teachers to know immediately if the students understand the material being taught.

Joel, in demonstrating how these clickers work gave us a quick test, asking, “if we Rotarians were as smart as the third graders.”

The four multiple-choice questions given, pertained to the AUSD and as each question appeared on the screen, we were to click our answer.  The results were immediately tallied through the clicker responses and the percentage for each possible answer was shown.

The questions:

1.              What year was the first school in Arcadia?

Answer:  1903

2.              When was Arcadia High School built?

Answer:   1952

3.              How many students are in attendance in the AUSD?

Answer:    Approximately 10,000

4.              The approximate school budget for 2010-11?

Answer:    $80,000,000

I believe we Rotarians did fairly well on this test.

In presenting these facts in using the clickers for our participation allowed both Joel and David Vannasdall to expand on the answers and to give us more detail in the current status of our schools.

Our schools have experience a decrease in enrollment.  With the declining enrollment there is less money to operate the schools.   There are 12 schools in the district.  All school sites are being used publicly, with the exception of Santa Anita Elementary School, as Arcadia Christian School, a private school has been renting that particular property for many years.

There are 9,612 students in the AUSD and an additional 400 students from other districts.

The average number of students times revenue limit (general purpose money) was set in 1972 and has equalized over time.  General education 2008-2009 was $6000 per student.  This year it is $4944 per student.  It is a 19% reduction since 2008-2010.  At this time Beverly Hills is the highest per capita district at $6441 per student, and Rowland Heights the lowest district at $5767 per student.

SAT or Stanford Achievement Test, Arcadia is one of the highest in scoring.

At this point it was noted that Arcadia High is #1 feeder to USC with 494 enrolling there this past year.

Arcadia High School in the 2010 graduating class had 836 seniors.  831 seniors graduated.  This is a percentage of 99.4%.  Grade point average was 3.26.  (Highest is 4.0).

School Bond Improvements/Programs Have Just Begun

David related the improvements made at Arcadia High along with slides to show the new Lab Science room and Computer Lab with seating for 150 students.  Also the new track and seating that opened to the public this past fall.

First Avenue Middle School has a new Music building that can easily be seen when passing by the school.  Holly Avenue Elementary has new classrooms.  Highland Oaks

Elementary has added new buildings.

Good schools and high test scores make for high real estate values.  Parents with school age children and relocating to the San Gabriel Valley want the best for their families, and Arcadia is their choice, along with San Marino school district.

Our two club speakers, Dr. Joel Shawn and David Vannasdall certainly made their subject, Education, a highly received talk because of their method of presentation and their enthusiasm for the school district, and of course, their responsible positions in the Arcadia Unified School District or AUSD.

Their talk ended with many possibilities for the exceptional school system that we enjoy.

Community, however, was the #1 factor in making it so.

Phyllis Corliss