CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS TO WATCH
California Schools to Watch is a statewide program implemented by the California League
of Educators, California Department of Education, California Middle Grades Alliance, National Forum, and the California Schools to Watch model schools.
Redesignated: 2019, 2022
Designated 2016
San Bernardino City Unified School District
San Bernardino County
Erin Freeman, Principal
3131 Piedmont Drive, Highland, CA 92346
(909) 388-6530
School Characteristics
Community: Urban; Enrollment: 838; Grades: 7-8; School Schedule: Seven-period day rotating schedule with early release on Mondays. Once-a-week period for social skills and restorative practices.
School Demographics
1.3% American Indian/Native American; 3.9% Asian/Asian American; 14.3% Black/African American; 70.5% Hispanic/Latino; 0.6% Pacific; Islander; 8% White; 1.3% Other; 90% Free/Reduced Lunch; 14% English Learners
Replicable Practices
School is scheduled in interdisciplinary teams with common prep period.
Serrano has a well-developed PBIS program, restorative justice program, and Saturday home visit program, during which staff visit student homes.
Staff instructional rounds, peer observations, and a video instructional coaching model support instruction.
Grade level interdisciplinary teams meet weekly to discuss team trends, interventions, and student monitoring.
One day per week, 8th grade students are regrouped to allow for differentiation and re-teaching of important concepts.
All 8th grade students are in Algebra. Progress for each student is monitored on a skills tracker card to identify and measure growth in gaps, and to direct students to classes for re-teaching.
AVID interactive notebooks are utilized in all core classes.
Common assessments are developed and used regularly by core teachers.
AVID practices are schoolwide and over 50% of students are enrolled in an AVID class.
All teachers are CLAD certified. EL students are mainstreamed and provided a two-period intervention block for language development.