A Nobel Prize winner graduated from this Sacramento school. Why it’s now being left behind
The neighborhood where Jon and Jen Schwedler are raising a family, nestled between Fair Oaks Boulevard and the American River, is a suburban oasis. Large ranch-style homes, some with palm trees in the yards, line the quiet side streets. Parts of the neighborhood are a short walk from riverfront trails and high-end restaurants.
The area is also zoned for Encina Preparatory High School, a public school rich in history. And like many of their neighbors, the Schwedlers chose not to enroll their oldest son at Encina – the lowest-performing large school in the Sacramento region.
“Basically what I looked for was performance, programs and proximity,” Jen Schwedler, a former public school teacher, said.
Encina is between very wealthy and very poor neighborhoods, but its student body is overwhelmingly disadvantaged. Meanwhile, families in the more upscale neighborhoods send their kids to other nearby public high schools, contributing to the steady decline of a school that has produced a Nobel Prize winner, local business leaders and the bass player for the Eagles.
The result is a campus confronting socioeconomic segregation and, despite what students describe as a nurturing environment and supportive teaching staff, struggling to serve a student body of refugees and children living in poverty.
Neighborhoods zoned for Encina have a stark economic divide.
To the south are wealthy neighborhoods such as Sierra Oaks Vista, with majestic trees and multi-million dollar estates. Just 5 percent of middle and high school students live in poverty and most families earn at least $100,000 a year, according to the latest census estimates.
Farther north – closer to the Encina campus – poverty reigns.
Roughly half the middle and high school students in those neighborhoods live in poverty, and just 13 percent of the families make at least $100,000 a year – less than half the Sacramento County rate. Large apartment complexes line Howe Avenue and home lots are far smaller than those less than a mile away.
Most of Encina’s attendance zone covers the high-poverty areas. And 96 percent of the school’s students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, which is available to families earning up to 185 percent of the poverty line, state data show. That suggests an overwhelming majority of wealthy families living in the school’s attendance zone choose to send their kids elsewhere.
Two and a half miles away sits Sierra Oaks Elementary, a K-8 school, where the Schwelders’ son currently attends eighth grade. About 57 percent of students tested met English standards and about 44 percent met math standards, both above the overall San Juan Unified School District results.
He’s headed to Rio Americano High School, along with the majority of his classmates. While CONTINUE READING: Open enrollment leads to segregation at Sacramento CA school | The Sacramento Bee
