Community Guides

Sonoma Valley / Napa Valley Public Schools & API Scores

Local schools are critical for families with children. And because schools help drive resale values, they're also important for homeowners without children. That's why savvy home buyers gather key school information when searching for a home. To help you with your search for the school that's the right fit for your child, we have provided links to each of our area schools and the 2004 API Scores, which are provided by the California Dept. of Education. You may also want to read this Washington Post article about "Finding the Perfect School". And you're always welcome to contact us @ (707) 934-2301 if you need assistance.

API Scores

API Scores are an important part of the California school system, by being a part of the California Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999. API stands for Academic Performance Index, and this was created to help measure the performance and learning of the children at California schools. The API Scores work by measuring on a scale of 200 (low) to 1000 (high) how the students at the school perform. Each school within a school district will have a particular score in mind for the school year, and will try to meet that API Score goal to see if that school has improved or not.

The statewide target goal for all of California is an API Score of 800. To determine whether there has been any growth or progress in the API, a school subtracts the API Growth from the API Base. The testing cycle for a school generally takes two years. The students at each school state wide are given a standardized test first at the beginning of the year, then in August of the next year, and the growth is determined. There are also some other factors that determine the API of a school. Demographics such as race, socioeconomic status, and learning disabilities are also taken into account when judging the test scores for the schools.

API Scores provide by the California Department of Education. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed to be accurate.