Area educators announced today (July 24) a major collaborative effort to boost the academic success of Sacramento kindergartners through 12th-graders. The partnership, announced at Sacramento High School, is an outgrowth of a plan adopted by the University of California regents last week to better prepare "educationally disadvantaged" students for university enrollment. The pact is intended to establish more rigorous standards of instruction, improve student achievement, enhance teacher training, improve high school graduation rates, and increase the number of students who attend community colleges and who are eligible to attend the University of California and California State University. Sacramento High school and its "feeder" elementary and junior high schools -- Father Keith B. Kenny Elementary School and Kit Carson Middle School -- will be the focus of this major new effort. The aim is to create a cost-efficient model that can be replicated among all school districts throughout the state. "Through this partnership, we hope to accomplish much more than any of us could alone," said Larry N. Vanderhoef, chancellor of UC Davis and member of the UC Outreach Task Force. "And our commitment is for the long haul -- all of us working together to provide steady, focused attention on improving student achievement." Consortium partners include UC Davis; California State University, Sacramento; Los Rios Community College District; and Sacramento City Unified School District. "We have great expectations for this partnership," said Jim Sweeney, SCUSD interim superintendent. "This effort has the potential to significantly enhance the quality of education for all of our students. I applaud the leaders of the higher educational institutions for their vision and commitment to K-12 students." Said Donald R. Gerth, president of CSU Sacramento: "This is an excellent model for community-wide commitment to student success. The support from all areas -- parents, educators and business -- demonstrates how strongly this community backs and believes in education. Together we will be able to make a significant difference in the lives of many young people." "Most jobs now require skills past the high school level," said Brice W. Harris, chancellor of the Los Rios Community College District. "If young people are going to succeed, they will need some college education and we must do all we can to make that possible." Sacramento High School Principal Richard Owen said his school's goal is to provide "equal and equitable access to a core curriculum tied to national standards of performance and the support needed to meet or exceed those standards. We don't want to be compared with schools of our same socio-economic profile, but with the best -- because the graduates of those schools are the ones our students will be competing with. It's a lofty goal but it's what we need to do." Here's a statistical profile of Sacramento High School: • Of the nearly 2,000 students at Sacramento High, 39 percent are white, 24 percent are Latino, 18 percent are African American, 17 percent Asian American and 2 percent other races. • Sixty-nine percent of the 336 students who graduated in 1995 went on to college, compared to a statewide 60.1 percent average. Considerably more (51 percent) enrolled at a community college than did their statewide (35.6 percent) or district (40.1 percent) counterparts. Fewer enrolled at UC (4.6 percent, compared to a 7.1 percent statewide and 6.9 percent district average); 13.6 percent enrolled at CSU, compared to an 8.8 percent statewide and 10.2 percent district average. Enrollments in both UC and community colleges dropped from two years prior. • Graduates completing UC requirements were disproportionately white and Asian American -- 49 percent and 27 percent, respectively, compared to 11 percent Latino and 3 percent African American. • Similarly, students enrolling in college-preparatory math and science classes were predominantly white and Asian American, while blacks and Hispanics enrolled in higher numbers in vocational courses. • Twelve percent scored above the national average on college placement tests, compared to 20.2 percent statewide and 20.9 percent districtwide. • The school's drop-out rate is 4.48 percent, compared to a 3.9 percent state average and a 6.3 percent district average. • Sacramento High also has high numbers of poor and immigrant students. Thirty percent of the students come from families that receive welfare benefits, while 37 percent receive free lunches. Nearly one-fifth speak little or no English. The partnership aims to expand the school's mentoring, tutoring and college prep programs; strengthen teacher training; augment and better focus educational research; and boost college-going rates. UC regents want to increase the number of UC-eligible graduates from partner high schools by 100 percent or to increase the eligibility rate by 4 percentage points -- whichever is greater. Early partnership efforts include the creation of a "Student Success Center" at the high school for students seeking tutoring, college advising and career development services; initiation of a "Saturday Scholars Academy" for ninth- and tenth-graders; placement of CSUS and UC Davis counselors at Sacramento High; and an expanded community college transfer program. Initial funding includes a $225,000 start-up grant from the UC Office of the President and $50,000 annually for five years from the Kelly Foundation. "I'm very grateful for the investment that Jon Kelly, a graduate of Sacramento High, is making in this school and in this community," said Owen. "He's setting an excellent example for other businesses that indeed it takes a village to raise a child. We all need to step up to the plate and get this job done." Also offering comment were: • Catherine Beckworth, principal of Kit Carson Middle School: "I am delighted that we will be able to strengthen our ties with our elementary and high schools as well as with institutions of higher learning. It is exciting to be on the cutting edge of revamping education to include universities as well as other stakeholders who can eliminate the problems and expand the opportunities of adolescent development." • Mertie Shelby, principal of Father Keith B. Kenny Elementary School: "If our young people are going to be able to matriculate to the university system, elementary schools must begin to collaborate with the middle schools and high schools in raising their achievement levels. In elementary schools, we must program the end results." • Anita Royston, Sacramento High School parent adviser: "I find this to be a promising endeavor between the district and the college systems. I urge parents to learn more about this involvement and support it. The collaboration provides all students with a better opportunity to go to the university or college of his or her choice." • Angela Love, parent of a Sacramento High School 11th-grader: "I'm appreciative that those with the means to help are choosing Sacramento High School. We really are trying to be a world-class school." • Dante Giray, Sacramento High School 10th-grader: "This partnership is great -- as long as it improves our future possibilities." A similar partnership is being explored with the Grant Union High School District and Del Paso Heights School District. Early discussions have focused on improving literacy, boosting the number of students eligible for UC and CSU, and increasing the number of students attending community colleges.