Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) ranked sixth in the state among K-12 schools in California, according to standardized test results released on Thursday, Aug. 29. According to the Growth Academic Performance Index (API), Palo Alto schools earned a score of 932, which is one point lower than last year.

“I think we are really privileged to live in an area that has such an educational environment,” senior Emily Willick said.

There was improvement in the API scores of African Americans, Hispanics, socioeconomically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities. The highest growth was with students with disabilities, of which 988 students were tested and there was an API growth of 31, bringing the 2013 API to 734.

“I think the closing of the gaps between the more privileged students and other students is fantastic and it is of huge importance for us to close that gap,” senior Paige Esterly said.

Other significant improvements were from the 225 African Americans tested and the 875 socioeconomically disadvantaged, which had scores of 761 and 768, respectively.

Whites, 4,211 of which were tested, stayed at an API score of 941, which is considered numerically important, higher than other districts’ scores, by the Department of Education of California.

Paly and Henry M. Gunn High School, with scores of 905 and 917, respectively, remained in the list of the top 50 high schools in California. Terman Middle School and Jane Leland Stanford Middle School also made it into a top 50 list of middle schools statewide.