{"id":506337,"date":"2026-10-24T08:08:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T08:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/506337\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T08:08:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T08:08:25","slug":"weekly-roundup-245-orange-county-schools-earn-spots-on-the-2026-california-honor-roll-and-more-ocde-newsroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/506337\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly roundup: 245 Orange County schools earn spots on the 2026 California Honor Roll, and more \u2013 OCDE Newsroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\"JiJi Sun Kim, a teacher at Faylane Elementary School in Garden Grove Unified School District, leads a classroom lesson. Faylane is among 245 Orange County schools recognized on the 2026 California Honor Roll. (Photo courtesy of Garden Grove Unified)<\/p>\n

A total of 245 Orange County schools and 18 school districts have been recognized on the 2026 California Honor Roll<\/a>, which highlights public schools and districts demonstrating strong academic performance and progress in closing achievement gaps.<\/p>\n

The annual list, announced Oct. 19 by the nonprofit Educational Results Partnership<\/a>, recognizes schools and districts based on student achievement, academic improvement over time and efforts to narrow achievement gaps among historically disadvantaged student populations.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s honorees represent the top-performing 24 percent of schools and 22 percent of districts statewide, according to the organization. The rankings draw on California\u2019s Smarter Balanced assessment results from 2024 through 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use these data to shine a light on schools achieving success with all students served, understand what drives their results, and explore how those successes can be replicated,\u201d said Alex Barrios, president and CEO of Educational Results Partnership.<\/p>\n

Now in its 12th year, the Honor Roll is part of a statewide effort involving business and education leaders to recognize academic achievement and identify practices that support student success.<\/p>\n

The complete list of recognized schools and districts is available at honorrollschools.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are the other stories we\u2019ve been following this week:<\/p>\n

Students at OCDE\u2019s Otto A. Fischer School in Orange County Juvenile Hall shared personal reflections<\/a>, artwork and aspirations for the future during the ninth annual Essay and Visual Arts Contest, highlighting their creative, resilience and commitment to personal growth.<\/p>\n

\"Teacher<\/p>\n

A total of 29 Orange County elementary and middle schools earned\u00a031\u00a0placements<\/a> among California\u2019s top 100 in U.S. News & World Report\u2019s 2027 rankings, led by Jack L. Weaver Elementary at No. 10 and Oxford Academy at No. 3 in their respective categories.<\/p>\n

As Red Ribbon Week begins Oct. 23 through Oct. 31, OCDE has updated\u00a0its\u00a0online\u00a0toolkit<\/a> with drug prevention resources and activities to help schools promote healthy choices while honoring the legacy of DEA agent Enrique \u201cKiki\u201d Camarena, who inspired the national campaign.<\/p>\n

Capistrano Unified schools resumed\u00a0regular\u00a0schedules<\/a> Monday, Oct. 19, following precautionary early dismissals prompted by the Norte Fire.<\/p>\n

Ocean View School District is exploring\u00a0plans\u00a0to\u00a0redevelop<\/a> two closed Huntington Beach elementary school sites into housing for district employees and other residents, with proposals also including green spaces and community amenities.<\/p>\n

\"Ocean<\/p>\n

A new UC Berkeley student found that children who benefitted from California\u2019s early preschool and transitional kindergarten expansions performed the equivalent of 11 months ahead<\/a> in reading and eight months ahead in math by third or fourth grade, with particularly strong gains among some low-income students.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom faces\u00a0a\u00a0year-end\u00a0decision<\/a> on whether California will participate in a new federal school choice program that could fund private school scholarships and public school services such as tutoring, amid concerns about oversight, equity and the potential impact on public education.<\/p>\n

This is the part where we encourage you to keep up with local education news stories by bookmarking\u00a0the OCDE Newsroom<\/a>,\u00a0subscribing for emailed updates<\/a>\u00a0and following us on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0X (formerly Twitter)<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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