Heber School recognized in “Schools to Watch”

Heber School in Imperial County has a reason to celebrate. They have been recognized as one of the “Schools to Watch.”

It’s part of a national recognition program that identifies middle-grade schools across the country who are accelerating or meeting criteria set by the national forum.

Heber School is just 1 of 47 schools from California that earned the recognition. Our team learned about their amazing accomplishment and what it took to get there.

“What this recognition does is it validates all the hard work that the community has put forth. And when I talk about community I’m talking about the teachers, the staff and the parents. So it’s really a validation of their hard work,” said Juan Cruz, Superintendent.

Schools are recognized for a three year period and this is the second time Heber School has received the honor. The selection process is vigorous and includes a visit from state teams who observe classrooms, interview administrators, students, teachers and parents.

“What they are looking for are those replicable practices, good effective practices that are giving us good results, great results,” explained Patty Marcial, Heber School Principal.

State officials also look at achievement data, suspension rates, quality of lessons and student work.

“The parents are very pleased and the parents have become accustomed to a high quality education system. They want to make sure that we continue on that path and that we are doing things that make us worthy of recognition,” added Cruz.

The recognition is both state and national. Parents gathered at Heber School to the celebrate the achievement and were greeted by a performance from the school drill team and a message from school and board members congratulating everyone on the the great achievement once again.