Richardson Earns Ninth Distinguished School Award

The students and staff at Richardson PREP HI Middle School have earned the California Distinguished School Award for the ninth time in the school’s history.

“Richardson’s long history of being a Distinguished School is proof that our success is due to more than just the efforts of one staff member or a handful of students,” said Richardson Principal Jenny (Paige) Vetere. “It’s the proof that our high standards for staff, students, and parents, including requirements for good attendance and behavior at all times and fostering a positive and caring school environment, have long-term academic impacts.”

The California Distinguished School Award recognizes schools for exceptional student performance for two consecutive years or for closing the achievement gap between two school years. The data used to evaluate schools for the award comes from the California School Dashboard. Richardson’s 2019 Dashboard results show the average math score for all students was 64.4 points above the standard. Additionally, English Learner students, as a group, scored 62.2 points above the standard in English/language arts.

Richardson PREP HI was one of only three schools in the County of San Bernardino to earn this honor in 2021. The school was last named a Distinguished School in 2019. Schools are only eligible to earn a Distinguished School Award every two years. In 2016, Richardson was named a National Blue Ribbon School.

For more information on the California Department of Education’s Distinguished School Award, visit the CDE website.