From the "Student/Community Profile" of the WASC Self-Study report, January 1995:
Chumash High School and the surrounding community comprise a rich mosaic of ethnic and cultural diversity, which has evolved over the thirty years of Chumash High School’s existence. These changes and their impact upon our student-community profile (and consequently, the staff’s perception of our clientele) are important to the understanding of our self-study results.
First in any discussion of Chumash High and its community must be a discussion of the local socio-economic infrastructure. This infrastructure is low to low-middle income. A vast majority of our clientele qualify as Special Needs, either through compensatory education, limited English proficient, or migrant education. At least three quarters of our students qualify for those special funds. Another example is that nearly one-third of our population is actively involved in the free/reduced lunch program and that an estimated additional ten percent would qualify if they chose to apply.
Beyond any socio-economic study of the community comes the demographic profile of the student body itself. Our clientele is largely minority, with a predominately Latino population (comprising over two-thirds of the student body). Over two-fifths of our clientele are limited English proficient.
Working with students who come to Chumash High School with below-grade-level skills creates a number of challenges for staff and students alike. Student CTBS scores demonstrate a better than year-for-year advancement. Aggregate student grade point averages, however, have not risen as much as expected following Chumash High’s restructuring implementation, though Minimum Proficiency test passing rates have risen as well.
In preparing this self-study, the staff at Chumash High School has identified a number of trends which impact the school and the education it provides. These trends include a demographic shift, the partial restructuring of the school’s academic day, parent involvement, and student perception of the school.
The most easily noticed trend affecting the school is the massive demographic shift which has taken place in the last decade and a half. In 1980, nearly one-half of the student body was identified as Caucasian or anglo, while today the percentage is less than fifteen; meanwhile, the Latino population has increased dramatically, from just over one-third of the student body fourteen years ago to over two-thirds today. This accounts for the rise in limited English proficient students as well.
In an attempt to better reach and teach this changing clientele, the staff of Chumash High School implemented a restructuring of its academic day and year, creating a four-period, ninety-minute class day, four term per year, academic schedule. The restructuring has show some positive results, but there is a growing feeling among all stakeholders that more needs to be done.
Another important trend is the lack of parental involvement. Attendance at school functions is low, and the site WASC committee’s first attempt to survey the parents met with dismal failure--only fifty of the six hundred parents responded to the survey.
The students, too, were surveyed, and their perceptions are eye-opening. While a vast majority feel that the restructured schedule made it easier for them to succeed in their classes, less than half feel that the campus is safe or clean, and nearly one quarter feel that the courses are neither interesting nor challenging to them.
On a positive note, the work experience coordinator at Chumash High School conducted a business community survey in which all responses can be categorized as good to excellent. These results lead the staff to believe that the majority of students in the work experience program are doing well and performing to the expectations of the business community. Therefore, these results engender reflection on how Chumash High might continue the successful transition from school to work for the vast majority of its students.
This is Chumash High School, a school at the crossroads.
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