"In tough economic times, good news is hard to find, especially in the world of education.
So when Chenoweth Elementary School principal Paula Heupal missed California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell's congratulatory phone call, she was upset.
O'Connell made four other phone calls this week to Merced County schools to praise them for making the needed academic gains to qualify for the Title One Academic Achievement Award."
Yamato Elementary School in Livingston, Peggy Heller Elementary School in Atwater and Schendel Elementary School in Delhi were the other recipients of the award. Luckily, O'Connell left Heupal a message, which she played for the entire school the next day.
Statewide, only 238 schools made the required academic gains to qualify as winners. Out of the more than 9,000 schools in the state, 6,000 participate in the Title One program.
Title One is the largest federally funded education program in the country.
The program, part of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, provides funding for students living at or near the federal poverty level as a