PICO RIVERA -- The Eagles at Rivera Elementary School are flying high.
The kindergarten through fifth-grade school has a record of producing students who achieve perfect scores of 600 on their state Standardized Testing and Reporting exams.
In 2011, five Rivera students got perfect stores in math. And in 2010, three students had perfect test scores in math.
But last year they hit new heights. Eighteen students at Rivera received perfect scores on the math portion of their state standardized exams, the so-called STAR tests, and one student had a perfect store in language arts.
"At Rivera, it's a team approach," said Principal Barbara Keenoy. "Students, staff and parents work together to achieve student success.
Gisselle Covarrubias, a second grader at Rivera when the tests were administered, was the only student in the El Rancho district to get a perfect score in language arts. A total of 2,735 students in grades two, three, four and five were tested throughout the district "" and Gisselle had the only perfect score, according to information supplied by the school.
A total of 40 students had perfect math scores in the district, including 18 at Rivera. Eight of those students were in fifth grade, and seven of them are now in Rivera Middle School. One is in a private school.
The students still at Rivera who received perfect scores in math are: Pablo Aguilar, Sonny Brock, Viviana Navarro, Mia Vela, Erik Barajas, Christian Mendez, Amanda Morales, Jose Navarro, Jonathan Espinoza and Katya Gutierrez.
Although the tests were administered in May, the scores were not received until August. Rivera's success surfaced recently during a districtwide effort to identify academic success stories.
California students in grades two through eleven take the STAR test every spring. The STAR Program looks at how well schools and students are performing. Students take tests in math, reading, writing, science, and history. Teachers and parents can use test results to improve student learning, according to the California Department of Education's website.