Alta Sierra Intermediate

National Forum Schools to Watch

The National Forum's "Schools to Watch" program identifies and honors middle-grades schools that are on their way to achieving high performance in academic excellence, development responsiveness, and social equity.  These schools serve as models for other schools and are recognized for their continuous trajectory toward success in improving student learning and development. The program, run through state-level organizations in partnership with the National Forum, uses a specific set of criteria to evaluate schools. 

Criteria: 

The program is built around four key criteria established by the National Forum:

• Academic Excellence: Challenging all students to use their minds well. 
• Developmental Responsiveness: Being sensitive to the unique needs of early adolescents. 
• Social Equity: Providing every student with high-quality teachers, resources, and support in a fair and democratic environment. 
• Organizational Structures and Processes: Having structures in place that support good programs for young adolescents. 

Bonner Award for Character and Civic Education

The Fresno State Bonner Award for schools is an award that recognizes educational institutions for promoting character development and civic learning in students. The award is given to schools that create positive, safe, and respectful learning environments by implementing programs and curricula that foster virtues like trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, and caring. Schools are evaluated on their efforts to build strong character and civic education through various initiatives. 

Key aspects of the award:

Focus on character and civic education: The award specifically recognizes schools that have a deliberate focus on character education and civic engagement. 

Promotion of virtues: Schools must show how they promote a set of virtues, often based on the CHARACTER COUNTS! Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. 

Positive learning environment: A core component is the establishment of a safe, respectful, and caring community where students feel a sense of belonging and can thrive. 

Curriculum and modeling: Applicants must demonstrate that a character education curriculum is in place and is modeled by staff. 

Community service: Schools are often recognized for encouraging community involvement and service projects, such as fundraising or food drives. 

Postivity Project Green Shield Award

To earn the Green Shield School distinction, a school must demonstrate:

• Community Impact
• Classroom Implementation
• Schoolwide Implementation
• Student Engagement
• Family Engagement
• Leadership

This award is a mark of excellence and pride — a public recognition of the school’s dedication to building a positive school climate.

California Business for Education Excellence Award

The California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE) award is primarily known as the Honor Roll program, which recognizes higher-performing public school in California and Texas based on their academic achievement and success in closing achievement gaps.  Administered by the Campaign for Business and Education Excellence (CBEE) and the Educational Results Partnership (ERP), the program uses state assessment data to identify schools that outperform their socioeconomically and demographically similar peers in core subjects like math and English. The award also highlights schools that consistently improve student outcomes and provide a strong foundation for the skills employers seek.

Common Sense School Award

Common Sense Media recognizes a Common Sense School for its commitment to teaching digital citizenship, which involves helping students think critically and use technology responsibly. To earn this recognition, schools must complete a roadmap of steps, including professional development for educators, teaching the Common Sense Digital Citizenship Curriculum, and engaging families with resources. The award signifies a school-wide dedication to creating a positive digital culture where students can thrive in a connected world.

California Honor Roll by Educational Results Partnership Award

The California Honor Roll, awarded by the Educational Results Partnership (ERP), recognizes public schools that use objective student achievement data to demonstrate high performance and significant progress in closing achievement gaps. It recognizes schools that excel in English Language Arts and math, and successfully prepare students for college and careers. The award is presented in partnership with California business leaders to highlight successful schools and encourage the replication of their best practices.  

CUSD CLASSI Award

In the Clovis Unified School District (CUSD), the CLASSI award stands for Clovis Assessment System for Sustained Improvement. 

It is an award given to schools in the district to recognize sustained success and improvement.