Rancho Santa Fe School achieves stellar state rankings — again

By Karen Billing

R. Roger Rowe School is a 10 all around. According to the base Academic Performance Index (API) and similar school rankings released last week, both Rancho Santa Fe’s elementary and middle schools are in the top 10 percent of their similar school groupings and rank a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. Assistant Superintendent Cindy Schaub said the “10-10” ranking is something the district is “super proud” of and a distinction they’ve held for the last few years.

“For both of the schools to be 10-10 schools is really exciting for us,” Schaub said.

Every spring the base API is recalculated (different from the growth API released in the fall) and a similar school ranking compares similar schools throughout the state using demographics, size and percentage of students in certain subgroups. Of the 100 schools most like the RSF schools in the state, R. Roger Rowe elementary is ranked third in the state and the middle school is ranked fourth in the state.

The elementary school soared this year with an API of 963 and the middle school reached a 954. The district-wide API of 960 was the highest the district has ever achieved.

“It’s validation that the work we’re doing with our students is paying off in student achievement data while at the same time we’re able to offer an incredible, well-rounded educational experience,” Schaub said.