"Project Achieve" is a four-year comprehensive action plan for the Santa Rosa City Schools District. It is designed to build on district strengths; to correct district weaknesses; above all, to raise student achievement -- the achievement of all students, whether they are headed at graduation for college or the work world, and whatever their socioeconomic background.

The Plan contains 87 specific actions, grouped in five areas:

• Increased Student Achievement
• Safe Schools
• Exemplary Staff
• Improved Communication and Community Involvement
• Maximized Use of Resources

The Plan shows in which year each action will be accomplished, beginning with the 1997-98 school year. The Plan also includes an appendix listing fourteen important goals which the actions will help the district achieve.

Some -- by no means all -- of the key features of "Project Achieve" are:

• A very strong emphasis on elementary schools, especially on effective reading and math programs, including a districtwide early intervention program to assist struggling young readers.
  
• More demanding high school graduation requirements, including end-of-course examinations which students must pass to receive graduation credit for certain subjects.
  
• A sequential series of gateway and exit-level tests including a 7th Grade entrance/6th Grade exit test, a high school entrance test, and high school graduation examination, to ensure that students do not automatically move on at important K-12 transition points if they are not academically ready.
• Intensive assistance for students at risk of not meeting the rigorous district standards.
  
• An end to social promotion, plus a new requirement that promotion from one grade to the next will require demonstrated mastery of grade-level content and performance standards.
  
• Development of a master plan to increase the numbers of limited English proficient students who become fluent in English and learn basic skills.
  
• A districtwide career/occupational program, building on current programs, so that students who choose not to head for a four year degree can earn certifications in various occupational areas.
  
• Adoption of performance benchmarks, using various measurements, for each school and for the district as a whole, against which schools and district can be held accountable.
  
• Steps to encourage greater parental involvement in their children's education.
  
• A series of steps to better inform the community about district programs and issues, and to seek public comment, including an annual Education Town Hall at which district performance can be evaluated.
  
• A careful linking of district budget with program priorities.
  
• Steps to review and rewrite middle and high school course descriptions and performance expectations, to ensure consistent, demanding expectations at all schools.
  
• Board decision making which emphasizes teacher and parent participation.

Some of the actions of "Project Achieve" require little further planning prior to implementation. Other actions will require additional preparatory work. Factors like planning lead-times, state or federal mandates, fiscal considerations, and the need for certain actions to be completed before other ones can be implemented, have affected the completion dates in the Plan.

The sources for "Project Achieve" include the district's Strategic Plan; teacher, parent and administrator response to the partial draft circulated in the Spring; published research; and writers and commentators whose views have influenced individual Board members.

Under "Project Achieve," all students would graduate from high school fully ready for the next stage in their lives. For students headed for four-year degrees that means that they graduate ready for college-level work, not needing, except in rare cases, remedial college courses. For students not headed for four-year degrees, that means that they graduate with a mastery of basic academic skills and meeting exit-level assessment demonstrating that they are ready to enter a paraprofession, trade or other well-paying occupation, or are ready to complete their training in a Santa Rosa Junior College program linked to Santa Rosa City Schools district programs.

Each year the Board of Education will review "Project Achieve" -- its progress, whether there are actions to be deleted or added, and/or changes to chronological priorities. As part of that review parent, teacher, administrator and community comment will be sought.

Board of Education
Santa Rosa City Schools
September 10, 1997