Marshall Fundamental Named One Of Newsweek’s Top Schools

The Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) was “truly excited” to discover Marshall Fundamental School made the Newsweek “Top Public High Schools in 2009” list, public officials said Monday.

Newsweek’s list, which represents the top six percent of all high schools, ranks public schools according to a ratio created by Jay Matthews. The ratio takes the number of Intl. Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school during 2008 and divides it by the number of graduating seniors. Each school on the list has an index of at least 1,000.

Marshall Fundamental School placed 155 on a list of 1,500 schools.

“It is wonderful to note that Marshall outperformed all high schools in neighboring districts based on the Newsweek criteria,” said Alice Petrossian, PUSD Chief Academic Officer. “We have celebrated Marshall’s achievements and, in fact, met with the Principal and set a target for next year’s rankings.”

Petrossian added that the district is proud that Marshall’s 2009 seniors received $1.6 million in scholarship funds. Many are headed to major universities across the nation, she said.

The district believes Marshall was named to the list because of the school’s focus on ensuring that every child meets targets outlined by the state, school officials said. A data driven school, Marshall Fundamental capitalizes on its diversity to make sure each student has equal access to the rigorous instructional programs available, Petrossian said.

Students at Marshall are constantly striving to reach higher levels of academic success and fully commit to their goals, she added. Administrators, teachers and parents in Marshall’s community also work well together, which adds to the success of students, Petrossian said.

“Motivating all students, providing them with specific goals, making certain that there are high expectations for each and every child are lessons that we have learned,” Petrossian said. “We have also learned that keeping the focus on state standards by all teachers and using data continually to drive instruction will make the critical difference and close the achievement gap.”

The district expects all of its schools, not just the high schools, to continue to focus on data driven instructional programs and to maintain high expectations for each and every student as Marshall does, Petrossian said.

“Student success is the key aspect of the Superintendent’s Approach to Excellence III goal,” Petrossian explained. “We will continue to provide leadership, professional development, and, most important, encouragement for each of our schools to meet their higher targets.”