San Diego— Six schools in the San Diego Unified School District have earned the 2024 California Purple Star distinction, bringing the total number of schools in the district to receive this honor up to 25.
Now in its third year, the California Purple Star School program publicly recognizes schools that go above and beyond in supporting military-connected students and their families. The San Diego Unified Purple Star Schools are:
- Angier Elementary School (2023)
- Cabrillo Elementary School (2022)
- Canyon Hills High School (2022)
- Chesterton Elementary School (2023)
- Correia Middle School (2023)
- Crown Point Junior Music Academy (2023)
- Dana Middle School (2022)
- De Portola Middle School (2024)
- Dewey Elementary School (2022)
- Hage Elementary School (2022)
- Hancock Elementary School (2023)
- Hickman Elementary School (2024)
- Jonas Salk Elementary School (2022)
- Jones Elementary School (2024)
- Kate Sessions Elementary School (2022)
- Loma Portal Elementary School (2023)
- Miller Elementary School (2022)
- Montgomery Middle School (2022)
- Perry Elementary School (2024)
- Point Loma High School (2023)
- Sandburg Elementary School (2023)
- Taft Middle School (2023)
- Vista Grande Elementary School (2024)
- Walker Elementary School (2024)
- Wangenheim Middle School (2023)
Military-connected students can expect to change schools between six and nine times from kindergarten through high school, or three times more often than non-military-connected children. As military-connected students transition between schools, often to different states and countries, they must adapt to varying cultures, school populations, curricula, standards, course offerings, schedules, and graduation requirements.
The Purple Star Program was designed to help mitigate these unique challenges by setting standards for and publicly designating military-friendly schools.
In addition to providing streamlined enrollment and graduation support for students moving in or out of the state, San Diego Unified partners with school liaison officers from the U.S. Navy and Marines, and has dedicated Military Family Life Counselors at several schools to better support military families.
San Diego is home to one of the largest concentrations of military-connected personnel in the nation, and nearly 8,000 San Diego Unified students have a parent serving in the Armed Forces.
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