RSM Schools Go to the Head of the Class

Schools that teach Rancho Santa Margarita children continue to do a good job, according to the most recent API scores that were released by the state Department of Education.

The state's goal is for all schools to score at least 800 on the Academic Performance Index, the annual review that measures proficiency in English and mathematics.

The lowest-scoring school was still comfortably above the margin; Cielo Vista Elementary scored an 838.

Eleven schools are members of the "900 Club," including all three intermediate schools in the area, Rancho Santa Margarita, Las Flores and Arroyo Vista, which improved 13 points to score 901.

The Capistrano Unified School District, as a whole, scored 875, an increase of 13 points. Saddleback Valley Unified School District scored 862, an increase of three points.

Among the public high schools included that RSM students attend, Tesoro was the shining star.

scored 884, an increase of seven points over 2010. It also showed improvement across every demographic, including a jump from 764 to 825 among socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and 597 to 630 among students with disabilities. Its best-scoring demographic was among Asians, who moved up from 952 to 954. White students improved from 881 to 886; Hispanic/Latino students improved from 820 to 839.

scored 843, an increase of four points over 2010, among the 2,402 students who took the test.  The highest scoring students were Asian (923), who improved five points over last year. There was a 33-point gain among the socioeconomically disadvantaged (752) of 33 points. There was a one-point drop among whites (853) and a 30-point drop among those with disabilities (528).

held at 850, the same score it had last year, among its 1,851 students who were tested. Asian students were again the highest-scoring, at 918, but it represented a 12-point drop. White students scored 872, a two-point increase.

All three middle schools were above 900.

improved to 908 from 903 among the 1,517 students who were tested.  Although most classifications of students showed an increase, including a 33-point improvement among those with disabilities (705) and a 25-improvement among those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged (816), there were drops among Asian students from 979 to 965. There were four classifications that scored in the 900s, including Filipino (921), white (917) and those who were two or more races (940).

scored 922, an increase from 912 among the 1,183 students who were included in the testing. As with RSM Intermediate, there were four classifications of students who scored in the 900s: Asian (970), Filipino (951), white (927) and those of two or more races (926). Only the latter represented a drop, from 946, among the 40 students in that category.

Arroyo Vista Middle School scored 901, an improvement from 888 last year, for the 404 students who were included. Its highest-scoring demographic was Asians, who scored 973, a 54-point bump over 2010.

Here are the school scores for other Rancho Santa Margarita area schools:

• Arroyo Vista Elementary (923, from 923 last year)
• (838, from 832 last year)
• (917, from 885 last year)
• (917, from 917 last year)
• Robinson Elementary (900, from 901 last year)
• (919, from 915 last year)
• Trabuco Elementary (888, from 856 last year)
• (924, from 916 last year)
• Wagon Wheel Elementary (936, from 910 last year)