(San Diego, CA) – State Superintendent Tony Thurmond announced on Wednesday that 44 California schools have been designated as 2024 Purple Star Schools. Poway Unified’s Bernardo Heights Middle School is included among that list, in recognition for the school and staff’s commitment to meeting military-connected students’ and families’ unique needs.
Purple Star Program schools seek to reduce the burden of military-connected students and their families during the transition to a new school and often, a new city. Making military families feel welcome, included, and supported is a campus-wide effort. Efforts include organizing opportunities for veterans and active duty servicemembers to visit campus and share stories and regular check-ins on students’ academic and social-emotional wellbeing. PUSD is proud of student and staff who go above and beyond to meet the needs of military-connected students and their families. Last year, another PUSD middle school, Oak Valley, was named a 2023 Purple Star School.
According to a news release from the San Diego county Office of Education, "Military-connected students must move whenever their active-duty parent or guardian receives a relocation order. These required relocations mean that a military-connected child can expect to change schools between six and nine times from kindergarten to the end of high school, which is three times more often than children without a military connection."
The Purple Star Program was designed to help mitigate the challenges of military families by setting standards for and publicly designating military-friendly schools. Learn more about the Purple Star Program here.