Alisal ranked #1 in Salinas and #3 in Monterey County in US News and World Reports (By Salinas Union High School District – http://www.salinas.k12.ca.us, FAL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17273025)

While Alisal is first alphabetically among the Salinas schools, few would rank the school #1. However, that’s exactly what has happened. Alisal is the #1 ranked high school in Salinas and #3 in Monterey County

The ranking is based on the school’s performance on state required tests, the graduation rate, and how the school prepares students for college. Alisal is also ranked within the top 500 schools in California, of which there are over 2,500. 

Almost all of the teachers and students weren’t aware of this because it was never announced to the school. The truth is, administration wasn’t completely ready or sure on how to announce it since they wanted to figure out the best way to celebrate this grand achievement. 

“[This achievement is] pretty amazing, I think that it speaks to the work that the students, the staff, and the parents do,” Principal Christina Perez said. “It’s a testament to the kids, their work, their teachers, and parents for sending their kids here and trusting us to do the job, and supporting us.” 

Along with the rankings, percentages on our proficiency from several different subjects were also provided by the U.S News and World Report. According to the scorecard, 38% of Alisal students take at least one AP exam, while 25% actually pass at least one AP exam. “I believe our numbers should be high[er] to demonstrate academic rigor on behalf of the school, but more importantly on behalf of the students,” Julio Gonzalez said. 

Ideally, the school would want every student to take at least one AP class, especially when considering attending a 4-year university, but their more realistic goal is 70%. In order for this goal of growth to happen, the school wants to start off by offering more, and different types of AP classes than the ones that are already being taught. 

When it comes to our mathematics proficiency, Alisal stands at 21%. “A lot of our kids are missing some foundational math skills when they get here and we do our best to work with what they come in with,” Math 2 and Math 3 teacher Pedro Ramirez said. “I know we can get [our score] up higher, but overall it’s pretty accurate.” 

As math teachers are currently in the process of trying to improve students’ performance, they are looking into a different direction rather than textbook curriculum in order to focus on what students actually need to learn, topic wise. 

As for science proficiency, Alisal stands at 30%. “I think it could have been higher,” Physics teacher Elmira Lising said. “If the students really took time and had the right mentality on tests like the CAST and SBAC, and didn’t just think about what they will gain from it, our scores would definitely be higher.” 

The reading proficiency surpasses both the math and science proficiency by over 20%, standing at 53%. “It has to be higher, we have to be better than 53%, just to be ready for our careers [and] college,” English 2 and AP Language and Composition teacher Jason Chamberlin said. “We can not be satisfied with that.” 

Although this is a huge accomplishment and should be something that every student and staff should be proud about, the school still desires for more work and effort to be done. But until then, the hard work and dedication has gotten Alisal to the number one spot.