Adobe Bluffs and Morning Creek 
Receive State Honors as 
2006 California Distinguished Schools

The Poway Unified School District is proud to announce that two elementary schools, Morning Creek and Adobe Bluffs, have been notified by the State Department of Education that they have been selected to receive honors as California Distinguished Schools. 

Morning Creek Elementary School is located in the residential community of Sabre Springs in the northern part of the city of San Diego. The Morning Creek staff and parents feel that their collaborative spirit is their greatest strength. Everyone works together to create a school environment which is student centered. When individuals visit Morning Creek, they are impressed with the respectful behavior and eagerness to learn demonstrated by Morning Creek students.

Adobe Bluffs Elementary School is located in the northwestern section of Rancho Peñasquitos, tucked away above a canyon and next to a park. The school community is proud of its tradition of volunteerism and business support, a culture that has been firmly established by everyone to work tirelessly, side-by-side to maximize student academic and social growth. Parent volunteerism is impressive, with parents logging in nearly 14,000 volunteer hours each year to provide amazing support and leadership to the school.

“We are very proud of everyone at Adobe Bluffs and Morning Creek. This honor reflects not only the test scores, but the collective effort of the schools to be actively engaged in student learning,” PUSD Superintendent Don Phillips said.

Cindy DeClercq, Adobe Bluffs principal, said, “Teachers and administrators at schools today spend a great deal of time identifying areas of growth and developing action plans to improve. This is important. The California Distinguished Schools application process provided an opportunity for our school community to identify and celebrate what we are doing right. These include our commitment and focus on each child learning, dedicated staff who care about our students, solid parent support, hard-working students, and having fun!” 

Doug Johnson, Morning Creek principal, said, “The Morning Creek community is very excited to be a 2006 California Distinguished School. Morning Creek has a long tradition of excellence. Everyday we work diligently to provide an optimal comprehensive educational experience for all of our students. This recognition is a great tribute to our community, to our students, and to our outstanding staff."

Morning Creek was named as a Distinguished School in 1993, 1997, and 2002 and a National Blue Ribbon School in 1994. Adobe Bluffs was named as a Distinguished School in 1998.

Phillips said, "We are so fortunate in this community to have so many outstanding schools that have been recognized as California Distinguished and National Blue Ribbon schools." Twenty-six schools in PUSD have been named California Distinguished and 15 as National Blue Ribbon Schools.

The Distinguished Schools program was started in 1985-86 to recognize top-performing schools in California. It is modeled after the National Blue Ribbon Schools program. Elementary and secondary schools are honored in alternate years.

To win the award, schools were required to meet California Department of Education eligibility standards for student performance. School districts were asked to describe their educational programs and assessment and accountability systems. Those schools qualifying for consideration as distinguished schools had to show the use of reliable measures and high standards for all students.

Next, in a detailed 26-page application based on the best practices of exemplary schools, each school was required to cite evidence of standards and accountability, effective instructional practices, support for student learning, a well-organized curriculum, integration of technology, safe schools, and parent and community support. Curriculum experts screened the applications at the state level, with the highest-scoring applications slated for site visits by state review teams. The review teams spent a day at each of the qualifying schools where they met with teachers, classified staff, parents, and students. They reviewed student performance data and carefully observed the quality of teaching in the classrooms.

The statewide recognition ceremony will be held on May 26 in Anaheim.


Congratulations to Morning Creek and Adobe Bluffs!