Introduction
This page provides an overview of many of the education issues of interest to parents and community members, including information on the RCEF, the Redwood City schools, and public education in general. We have also provided links to other sites that have more detailed discussions on these important topics.
Please select from the list below to choose a topic:
The role of education foundations
All about Redwood City Schools
The Role of Education Foundations
The RCEF, like the many other education foundations in California, is dedicated to raising funds to provide opportunities to students that would otherwise not be available to them.
Because of gaps between what schools receive from the state and federal governments and the demands made on them by a diverse student population, most schools are unable to provide what were formerly considered to be core subjects, such as music, art, and physical education. Every school district in the state faces a unique set of challenges, but one thing many have in common is the existence of a community-based education foundation.
Education foundations can help make up the funding gap, and they also offer a unique opportunity for the community to exercise local control over education spending. Because of federal and state government mandates, much of the education budget is already spoken for. School districts that want to provide programs not directly called for by the state or federal government typically turn to their local education foundation for help.
To learn more about education foundations in California, please see: California Consortium of Education Foundations.
All About Redwood city schools
Click on the links below to learn more about Redwood City's public elementary schools:
In Redwood City, schools are operated by two districts: the Redwood City School District and the Sequoia Union High School District.
The Redwood City School District (RCSD) operates elementary and middle schools serving students from Kindergarten to grade 8. The district serves nearly 8,000 students and has 17 schools. For more information, see the district’s own site and the district's profile at Great Schools.
The Sequoia Union High School District oversees high schools serving grades 9 to 12 in Redwood City. Students are drawn from Redwood City and the neighboring communities of Atherton, Belmont, Menlo Park, Woodside, and San Carlos. For more information see: Sequoia Union High School District.
For more statistical information about how the two school districts, their schools, students, test scores, and teachers compare, see the California Department of Education’s web site: Education Data Partnership.
Each RCSD school has its own website. Choose from the list below to visit a local school:
Adelante Spanish Immersion School (K-8)
Bilingual Newcomer Academy (3-8)
Clifford School (K-8)
Fair Oaks Community School (K-8)
Hawes School (K-5)
Henry Ford School (K-5)
Hoover School (K-8)
John Gill School (K-5)
Kennedy Midddle School (6-8)
McKinley School of Technology (6-8)
Bilingual Newcomer Academy
North Star Academy (3-8)
Orion Elementary School (K-5)
Roosevelt Elementary School (K-5)
Roy Cloud School (K-8)
Selby Lane School (K-8)
Taft Elementary School (K-8)
Redwood City school District API SCORES
The RCSD is continuing its upward trend of improvement in API scores. On the tests given in 2005/06, 11 of our 16 schools achieved API scores of 700 or higher, and the district’s overall score was 754. This is higher than Roy Cloud’s 1998 score of 738, the highest result of any neighborhood school that year. At that time, only two of our schools, Roy Cloud and North Star, scored over 700. The RCSD has had the highest increase in API scores in San Mateo County since 2000.
Follow the links below for more information:
Upward Trend for Redwood City School District
Read print version — English (pdf)
Read online version — English (html)
Read print version — Spanish (pdf)
API data for San Mateo County school districts 2000-2006
Read print version (pdf)
API data for Redwood City School District schools 2000-2006
Read print version (pdf)
API data for Redwood City School District schools 1998-2006
Read print version (pdf)
Follow the links below to learn more about public education in California. Please send us an email if there are other issues you would like us to discuss. For a useful introduction to school issues, please see our RCEF California Public Education Funding Overview (pdf) .
School districts receive most of their public funds from three sources: the federal government, state revenue, and local taxes. The amount of funds allocated to each district is largely determined by a complex, state-controlled finance system. Improving this system is politically challenging and often takes a long time. Consequently, local communities have increasingly relied on two strategies to raise additional funds for their neighborhood schools: passing a local parcel tax and contributing private funds, usually through a parent/teacher organization (PTA or PTO) or a districtwide education foundation, like the RCEF.
For resources on California school finance, see:
RCEF California Public Education Funding Overview (pdf)
Edsource School Finance Overview
California Budget Project “School Finance in California and Proposition 98 Guarantee"
Redwood City public schools are held accountable by the state and federal governments for their performance through a variety of ways. The state sets goals for schools with curriculum standards that define what students are required to know and be able to do. The RCSD has adopted textbooks that are aligned with the state standards, and teachers teach to the standards through a variety of creative methods.
In the late 1990’s, state laws were passed that established a testing system to measure schools’ progress, rank their performance relative to other schools, and reward or punish schools based on test results.
The federal government also has a similar accountability and testing system for schools that receive federal funds, called the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The measurement used by NCLB is the Adequate Yearly Progress or AYP.
Because these state and federal systems overlap and at times conflict, the California Department of Education (CDE) and the U.S. Department of Education are trying to streamline these laws so that there are less discrepancies at the local level.
For resources on California’s laws see:
Edsource Accountablity Overview
CDE Testing and Accountability Office
For information on the No Child Left Behind Act see:
Education Commission of the States, NCLB information
U.S. Department of Education, NCLB Office
CDE 2006 Adequate Yearly Progress Report Information Guide
Since 1998, California’s students in grades 2 through 11 have been required to take annual tests called the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program. The results of these tests are the cornerstone of the state’s accountability system.
STAR test results are used to create the Academic Performance Index (API), which is a measure used to track and rank schools’ performance in meeting curriculum standards. In addition, schools administer other types of assessments that help them determine student progress throughout the year and/or how well students are meeting district expectations of performance.
For further explanation of the STAR program, see:
California Department of Education, Standardized Testing and Reporting
To see STAR testing results for individual schools and districts see:
The Education Data Partnership
| Adelante Clifford Hawes Henry
Ford Hoover John
Gill Kennedy McKinley New Comers Fair Oaks North Star Orion Roosevelt Roy Cloud Selby Lane Taft Redwood City School District |