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Martin Luther King Middle School has been named a California Distinguished School for 2001. 

“These Schools are leaders in the education community,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin last week, announcing the 157 middle schools and high schools that have received the “California Distinguished School” designation this year. 

More than 250 schools applied to for the honor in December of last year. Beginning in January panels of educators from around the state reviewed each 20-page application, evaluating the schools’ educational programs, learning environment, and “public confidence” – the level of family and community involvement in the school. 

“I’m glad we decided to go for it this year,” said teacher Kristin Collins. “It’s a way someone outside of ourselves can look at us and kind of validate what we’re doing...It’s a way of telling the community what’s going on here.” 

“It’s a source of pride for people who are involved with King,” said teacher Rachel Garlin. 

King was named a California Distinguished School once before, in 1996. The award goes to elementary schools one year and middle schools and high schools the next. Berkeley Arts Magnet Elementary school was named a California Distinguished School last year. 

The panels of judges “look at all aspects of the school,” said King Principal Neil Smith. Last month three of them spent a day at King, talking with students and staff and inspecting the campus classroom by classroom. 

Smith pointed to a strong library staff, wide availability of computers (three per class), and an annual professional development retreat for teachers as just some of the things that set King apart. The school’s Edible Schoolyard program helps engage kids in the more practical side of learning, he said, involving them in all aspects of food preparation at the school – from the garden to the kitchen.  

Garlin said, “There are lots of opportunities for kids, before school, during school and after school, to help shape the school.” 

The school’s culture encourages involvement not just in the classroom, she explained, but on a number of levels, from the garden to the stage of a dramatic production.  

As an example of how the school goes out of its way to include all students, Garlin pointed to the fact that “gifted” classes at King are held after school and are open to all students who want to attend. 

Staff work together closely to meet the individual needs of students, Collins said.  

“We work hard trying to meet kids where they are,” Collins said. “We try not to see them as just a group of kids.” 

With about 900 students, some kids could easily fall through the cracks at King if not for the vigilance and energy of the staff, Collins said. 

“We try to know them individually, to challenge them individually, and to support them individually; to make sure they have a place to shine or belong.” 

But there are still areas where King can improve, Garlin said. 

“It’s important that we see this (the Distinguished School award) as recognition that we’re doing some of the right things, not as a stamp of approval that says our work is done,” Garlin said. 

Garlin said students’ No. 1 complaint is that the school is old and worn down. 

Smith said an $18 million renovation project scheduled to begin at King this summer while bring long overdue improvements to one of the Berkeley school district’s oldest facilities, enlarging classrooms and adding new windows and new wiring. 

Another goal ought to be the hiring of more minority teachers to reflect the diversity of the student body, said Garlin. 

Last year, King’s 900 students were 36 percent white, 31 percent African American, 17 percent Hispanic and 9 percent Asian. The school’s 57 teachers were 70 percent white, 12 percent African American, 11 percent Asian and 5 percent Hispanic.