State Superintendent Horne tours San Luis High School
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne capped off a two-day visit to Yuma County on Wednesday, May 3, by touring San Luis High School alongside members of his team and SLHS and Yuma Union High School District administrators.
The tour was led by SLHS Principal Rob Jankowski, and included stops at Film and TV, Law and Public Safety, mathematics, agriculture, and engineering classes.
Horne was joined by Arizona Department of Education (ADE) Chief Strategy Officer Edward Cota, Phoenix City Councilmember Jim Waring, ADE Deputy Communications Director Chris Kelly, YUHSD Governing Board President David Lara, Associate Superintendent Tim Brienza, and others.
“We decided to drive down to San Luis to recognize real excellence,” Horne said. “We noticed in the Department of Education that they went from a ‘D’ school to a ‘B’ school in one year and that takes a lot of good academic work. Also, in terms of percentage of students going to college, adjusted for demographics, this school is off the chart.”
According to the Arizona Board of Regents, San Luis High School has a college-going rate of 61.4 percent and a high-school graduation rate of 94.2 percent. The state average college-going rate is 46.3 percent and state average graduation rate is 78.2 percent.
San Luis is also consistently among the state’s highest achieving schools in Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion. They have also been lauded across the state for developing successful student leaders and career pathways through the Career & Technical Education (CTE) program, which includes several of the classes observed on the tour.
“I’m honored that the Superintendent of Public Instruction recognizes the amazing work we are doing here at San Luis High School,” Jankowski said. “We were happy to showcase our teachers and students, and show that we are establishing a college-going culture. Superintendent Horne’s presence down here is another way to validate that our work is headed in the right direction. It’s humbling to know that we are getting recognized at the state level.”