Greetings, Argos!
Welcome to a new school year! We’ve had a very smooth start, considering we have 2350 students, our largest enrollment in over 20 years. We opened the year with the fantastic news that our 2009 API score went up a whopping 14 points, to a score of 796! The State goal for all schools is 800, so we are VERY close to reaching that target. As I observe students and teachers hard at work, I am confident we will exceed 800 in 2010, Much of this confidence comes from just recently having the privilege of hand delivering Principal’s Honor Roll certificates and pins to 719 students who made Principal’s Honor Roll for their 2^nd semester grades. Any student who earns a grade point average of 3.0 or better in any single semester receives this honor. It’s always such a pleasure for me to go to classes and give these awards! As a reminder regarding the API, student performance on the CAHSEE in March and the CST exams in May are major factors in our API score, as are attendance and graduation rates. Our attendance has steadily improved, and the graduation rate, even with the addition of the CAHSEE requirement, has remained consistently strong. Bravo, Argos!

One more accomplishment that bears mentioning (and celebrating!) is Grove’s participation in the international Advanced Placement (AP) program. This past Spring, we gave 1005 AP exams, almost twice as many as any other high school in GGUSD. Students’ willingness to challenge themselves with rigorous courses, and teachers’ dedication to supporting academic growth though caring attention and quality teaching has allowed the Argos to make significant academic progress. As a side benefit, students have also noted an increase in self-confidence as they experience success in AP-level courses. It’s a please to watch this growth!

Thank you, students, for making every day enjoyable… you do a great job of embracing our school’s motto: Pride, Performance, and the Pursuit of Excellence.

Sincerely,
Dr. Colleen Cross
Principal of Garden Grove High School