Six Baldwin Park Unified schools were named in May 2015 as California Gold Ribbon Schools – the state’s highest award for academic excellence – giving the district a win for every application submitted. The awards, which have temporarily replaced the California Distinguished School Program, go to secondary campuses that successfully implement new academic content and performance standards for all students, including English learners, as demonstrated through model programs chosen by the schools.

Baldwin Park Unified’s North Park High School was named a 2015 California Model Continuation School for providing an innovative, student-focused program that boosted student credit completion rates to 97 percent and graduation rates to 92.4 percent in 2013-14. The three-year designation by the California Department of Education is a first for North Park, which serves between 300 and 400 students a year. School leaders slashed the dropout rate to 5.9 percent and cut suspensions/expulsions to 7.9 percent from 28.2 percent in two years.