Diamond Bar PUSD Students More Fit than District Peers

Diamond Bar Pomona Unified students were proven more fit than students across the state, county, and district in a recent survey by the California Department of Education.

The results of the 2009-2010 FITNESSGRAM, showed average fitness levels for fifth graders in the district's Diamond Bar schools, while seventh and ninth graders outpaced averages elsewhere.

The test scored students along six categories: (1) aerobic capacity, (2) body composition, (3) abdominal strength, (4) trunk extensor strength, (5) upper body strength, and (6) flexibility.

While the district as a whole comes in below county and state averages for fitness, the six schools located in Diamond Bar showed above-average fitness levels.

Out of a total 43 schools in the district, six school sites are located within Diamond Bar.

Those Diamond Bar school sites are: , , , , , and .

District-wide, the survey determined that 15.8 percent of fifth graders, 22.1 percent of seventh graders, and 27.9 percent of ninth graders tested in the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) in all six test categories.

Those numbers are below the statewide averages as well as those for all of Los Angeles County.

Statewide, 28.7 percent of fifth graders, 34.6 percent of seventh graders, and 38.5 percent of ninth graders tested in the HFZ for all six categories.

Across the county, those numbers were: 26.7 percent of fifth graders, 31.9 percent of seventh graders, and 36 percent of ninth graders.

The district's Diamond Bar schools, however, showed strong growth in fitness through seventh and ninth grade, while fifth grade fitness was below state and county averages: 22.7 percent of fifth graders, 37.4 percent of seventh graders, and 44.9 percent of ninth graders scored in the HFZ in all six test categories.

The fitness numbers varied widely at each individual site, however. Neil Armstrong Elementary showed the lowest number of fifth grade students scoring in the HFZ in all six categories. Only 18.9 percent of the school's students scored in that range.

Golden Springs Pre-K – 8 showed the highest fitness numbers for fifth grade with 39.3 percent of students scoring in the HFZ for all six categories. The school's seventh graders, however, had only 23.1 percent of students in that same range.

Lorbeer Middle School had 40.1 percent of seventh graders in that top range.

And at Diamond Ranch High School, 44.9 percent of ninth graders scored in the HFZ for all six areas of the test.

The numbers for one of the test's key criteria — aerobic capacity — showed the same pattern for Diamond Bar schools in relation to state, county, and districtwide figures.

Fifth graders across the Diamond Bar group had 68.1 percent of its contingent in the HFZ for aerobic capacity; by ninth grade, 81.7 percent of students at Diamond Ranch High School scored in that top range.

Across the county, 62.9 percent of fifth graders and 60.4 percent of ninth graders scored in the HFZ for aerobic capacity.

The results of the survey were issued on the same day that Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced a new initative to improve the physical fitness and health of the state's 6.2 million children.

“Nothing is more important than the health of our children and today’s results show that many of them need a helping hand to get fit and stay in shape,” Torlakson said following the release. “The Team California for Healthy Kids campaign will help students adopt the healthy habits that will help them succeed in the classroom today – and help them stay healthy over a lifetime.”

Around 1.32 million students took the tests statewide, with about 91 percent of the students enrolled taking at least one of the six tests.

Torlakson, a former high school science teacher and long-time track and cross country coach, said the Team California campaign will link schools with community leaders and athletes to promote the importance of exercise at school and at home.

The campaign would be co-chaired by former NBA great Bill Walton, ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes, former San Francisco 49er Bubba Paris and Dr. Toni Yancey, a professor in the UCLA School of Public Health.