CV High is in very good shape

Wearing a Falcon basketball T-shirt, California Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell on Tuesday joined Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Fitness Council Chair Jake Steinfeld at Crescenta Valley High School to announce the results for the 2007-2008 state physical fitness test. The school was chosen for the announcement because the students earned a 70% success rate in the test.

“Let me tell you about [CVHS] test results,” O’Connell said. “They are really the model, the shining example of where all schools need to be in California when it comes to academic achievement and good physical fitness.”

The state mandated fitness test is given to fifth, seventh and ninth graders during the spring. It measures six areas of physical fitness, including cardiovascular endurance, body fat, abdominal strength and endurance, trunk strength and flexibility, upper body strength and endurance and overall flexibility. In ninth grade, students who do not pass are given a type of intervention class and try the test again. Students who still do not pass are required to continue in physical education classes. Those who pass are required to take two years of physical education class or its equivalent in order to receive a diploma.

Over two out of three students met, or passed, the proficient level in all six areas of the test.

O’Connell said CVHS dispels the “myth” that to be strong in academics, physical fitness programs must suffer.

“Academic achievement and physical fitness are not exclusive,” he said. “[The] CVHS Academic Performance Index [state standards test] score for last year was 807. They ranked in the top 5% of all high schools in the state of California.”

Steinfeld echoed O’Connell’s praise for the school and its administrators.

“As I travel up and down the state, I hear all the time about the challenges, but what I have found when I talk to educators is they have a passion for what they do,” Steinfeld said.

He added that parent support was important for both fitness and academic success.

“Parents need to get involved,” he said.

To that end, he announced the continuation of the Governor’s Council for Physical Fitness Challenge but with a new twist: parents can now join their children in the fitness quest.

“Students have been asked to be active 30 to 60 minutes a day at least three days a week for a month,” Steinfeld said.