The school slogan here is "Every Child, Every Chance, Every Day," and Principal Beth Thomas says students are placed…More in "targeted classes" for math and language arts.</p> <p>Levels are classified as Benchmark (advanced and proficient students), Strategic (up to two years below grade level) and Intensive (more than two years below grade level). But, she says, "students are able to move between the levels if their performance warrants this change."</p> <p>The PTSA sponsors assemblies, offers rewards and incentives for student achievement, finances the annual Renaissance Day and even pays for some classroom supplies, such as paper. Other PTSA events include 6th Grade Family Picnic and a Back to School Night BBQ.</p> <p>For a fee, La Mesa's ESS (extended school services) offers after-school recreational and educational activities.</p> <p>Parents are invited to  informal monthly gatherings with Thomas and  counselors, where school updates are given and questions can be answered. This bustling school features an outdoor amphitheater for assemblies.</p>

La Presa Middle School has been serving the Spring Valley community since 1963.

A program improvement school,…More Principal Mike Allman is proud of the way the API scores have risen at La Presa Middle over the last four years. In fact, with an improvement of 101 points since 2006, La Presa Middle School boasts the highest level of improvement in the District.</p> <p>That improvement can be attributed to the specific "targeting" of which students need to take which classes, the introduction of longer classes with block scheduling and other factors.</p> <p>LPMS offers many electives in the humanities like band and dance, as well as technology-based electives. There is an active PTSA, and the school strives to create "a small school learning environment."</p>

Thanks to Proposition D, a bond issue approved by La Mesans in 2004, the Police Department moved into a…More 45,000-square-foot, $20 million headquarters in September 2010.</p> <p>Police Chief Al Lanning oversees a force of 68 sworn officers, 30 non-sworn personnel and 50-60 members of the RSVP, or Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol, and other volunteers. </p> <p>The Police Department offers an SRO (school resource officer) for elementary and middle schools in La Mesa and assigns a full-time SRO to Helix Charter High School.</p> <p>The department's website links to My Neighborhood Update, a Google Maps-based display of reported incidents in La Mesa.</p> <p>Police also help with animal control, and promote Neighborhood Watch and Kidz Watch, a free safety academy for children 6-11. In addition, the Crime Free Multi-Housing crime-prevention program targets  La Mesa apartment complexes.</p>