Montebello Elementary School Overcomes 'Alarming' Demographics to Earn A+ Grade from Arizona Educational Foundation

PHOENIX – July 17, 2009 –Perhaps no administration and teaching staff face a bigger challenge in Metropolitan Phoenix than the dedicated group of professionals at Montebello Elementary School.

Despite having demographics described as "alarming" by the Arizona Educational Foundation's (AEF) A+ School certification judges, the West Phoenix campus featuring 1,390 kindergarten through eighth grade students was one of only 17 schools across Arizona to earn the AEF's A+ certification for 2009.

Just how diverse is Montebello’s campus?  Consider the following:

• Sixty-five percent of Montebello's students are classified as English Language learners representing 24 different languages
• Eighty-one percent of the students have a non-English home language
• Virtually all the students live in low socioeconomic conditions, with 94-percent receiving free or reduced-price lunches
• Many of the families serviced by the school are transitory, leading to a 40-percent student mobility level
• Montebello’s student body includes 160 refugee students from strife-ridden countries such as Iraq, Burma and Burundi.

These numbers made the A+ certification judges take notice, who described the campus as a "Overwhelming A+ school," featuring "...trail-blazing leadership."

"Despite the alarming demographics...including the cultures of more than 150 refugees," the judges wrote, "Montebello pushes the envelope with their supportive staff, the continuity of instruction, their pledge to do the very best and the programs that support the refugees."

Determined to succeed in spite of the demographics, Principal Jeff Sprout wrote in the A+ School certification sheet: "...Our staff has a no-excuses attitude about our number-one priority of student achievement.  Every purchase, program, staffing decision or change is made on how it will impact learning."

The focus on academic success clearly is working - Montebello has risen from an "Underperforming" rating in 2002 to either "Performing" or "Performing Plus" ratings ever since.

Montebello Elementary School will maintain its A+ designation for three years.

According to the AEF website, azedfoundation.org, the A+ program celebrates education and brings to light the positive stories and successes happening in public schools every day.  Created in 1983, the program's stated purpose is threefold:

• To identify and publicly recognize outstanding public schools in Arizona;
• To make available a comprehensive framework of key criteria for school effectiveness that can serve as a basis for participatory self-assessment and planning in schools;
• To facilitate communication and sharing of best practices within and among schools based on common criteria related to success.

In order to be recognized as an A+ school, each school must submit an application providing demographic information, a description of current programs and practices, documentation of parent and community involvement, a profile of the school principal and his/her vision of the commitment to excellence, equity, service; and sustained high achievement or significant improvement in assessment. The winning schools are recognized for their superior ability to meet the needs of their student populations.