Santa Cruz School Added To CA Distinguished Schools List

SANTA CRUZ, CA — A Santa Cruz County Office of Education school was named a 2021 California Distinguished School by the state schools superintendent.

Pacific Collegiate Charter was added Tuesday to the list, which was recently expanded to include additional schools, including 28 in the greater Bay Area.

"Our thanks go to the entire communities surrounding these schools, including the teachers, administrators, and classified employees as well as the students and their families who, through teamwork, all accomplished this impressive achievement together," State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said in a statement released Tuesday by the California Department of Education.

Winners were chosen by the California Department of Education based on criteria including test scores, suspension rates and climate. Distinguished schools are recognized for their work in closing the achievement gap and top-notch student performance.

Elementary schools and middle/high schools are honored by the state in alternating years.

"Amid the backdrop of uncertainty and hardship facing all California schools this past year, this recognition is especially remarkable," the state Department of Education previously said in a news release.

See which other schools made the cut:

• Alameda County: Alameda Unified - Alameda High, Alameda Science and Technology Institute; Fremont Unified - John F. Kennedy High; New Haven Unified - James Logan High; Oakland Unified - Oakland School for the Arts, Oakland Unity High; Pleasanton Unified - Amador Valley High, Foothill High.
• Contra Costa County: Acalanes Union High- Acalanes High, Campolindo High, Miramonte High; John Swett Unified - John Swett High; San Ramon Valley Unified - California High, Dougherty Valley High, Monte Vista High; West Contra Costa Unified - Middle College High. Marin County: Tamalpais Union High - Tamalpais High.
• Monterey County: Carmel Unified - Carmel High. San Francisco County: San Francisco Unified - Lowell High.
• San Mateo County: Sequoia Union High - Carlmont High. Santa Clara County: Campbell Union High - Branham High; East Side Union High- Evergreen Valley High, KIPP San Jose Collegiate; Fremont Union High - Cupertino High, Monta Vista High.
• Santa Cruz County: Santa Cruz County Office of Education - Pacific Collegiate Charter. Solano County: Fairfield-Suisun Unified - Angelo Rodriguez High.
• Sonoma County: Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified - Credo High.

— Bay City News contributed to this report