{"id":218233,"date":"2026-03-13T15:28:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T15:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/218233\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T15:28:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T15:28:27","slug":"six-lbusd-schools-including-millikan-for-the-first-time-earn-distinguished-school-awards-long-beach-post-news-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/218233\/","title":{"rendered":"Six LBUSD schools \u2014 including Millikan for the first time \u2014 earn Distinguished School awards \u2022 Long Beach Post News"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the state\u2019s highest awards in public education was bestowed on six Long Beach Unified middle and high schools in recognition of their academic achievement and commitment to closing performance gaps.<\/p>\n

Millikan and McBride high schools were named California Distinguished Schools for the first time, joining previous winners California Academy of Mathematics and Science, Sato Academy of Mathematics and Science and Keller and Stanford middle schools.<\/p>\n

Awarded schools demonstrated high academic performance for all students and academic progress for students who have been historically underserved, reflecting goals the LBUSD school board is working toward by June 2028<\/a>. To qualify for the statewide distinction, schools must demonstrate high participation in standardized testing and low suspensions and chronic absenteeism.<\/p>\n

Millikan High School principal Stacie Alexander said it was \u201can exciting surprise\u201d to see her school honored alongside 407 others across the state<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Indeed, given the award\u2019s rigorous criteria, it has been more than two decades since any of the district\u2019s comprehensive high schools have been recognized. Most recently, Wilson High School made the list in 2005; Poly High School earned the award in 1999.<\/p>\n

In recent years, \u201cwe\u2019ve really focused on multiple subgroups of students,\u201d Alexander said, pointing to Millikan\u2019s strides in math achievement among Black students and English language learner progress.<\/p>\n

Underpinning that success are the \u201cstructures of support that we build in for both our students and our teachers,\u201d she said, which can look like student interventions, focusing on and monitoring students\u2019 strengths and fostering a culture of relationship and community building among Millikan\u2019s more than 3,000 students.<\/p>\n

For Alexander as a principal, being recognized as a distinguished school is \u201cvalidation that we\u2019re on the right track and that we\u2019re focusing on the right things,\u201d she said. For teachers, it\u2019s evidence that \u201cwhat they do on a daily basis matters and does have impact,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

At McBride High School, which serves over 600 students in specific pathways, principal Stephanie Dunn said she has taken a similar approach of fostering belonging on campus, a key to academic success. \u201cWhen students are connected to school, they usually perform better, and that collective effort is what\u2019s helped elevate our academic achievement,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In the classroom, McBride teachers focus on creating spaces where students feel supported, engaged and safe enough to ask questions, Dunn said. \u201cStudents are not allowed to opt out of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

That approach has translated to improvements in English language arts and math performance, college and career readiness and graduation rates, according to the statewide dashboard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since Dunn shared the news about McBride\u2019s award with her student body, she said the energy on \u201ccampus is electric.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunn said she and her students take seriously the school\u2019s namesake, Long Beach civil rights activist Ernest S. McBride Sr., as well as his legacy of \u201cgiving back to the community and leaving things better than you found it.\u201d For the seniors in particular, the recognition was a \u201cfull circle moment,\u201d she said, because they know: \u201cwe were a part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the state\u2019s highest awards in public education was bestowed on six Long Beach Unified middle and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-218233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}