 The school has been deemed a three @-@ time California Distinguished School , a National School of Character , and a two @-@ time National Blue Ribbon School . Performance results for 2008 show Amador Valley with an Academic Performance Index ( API ) of 10 on a 10 @-@ point scale . The Daily Beast / Newsweek ranked Amador Valley High School <unk> in 2013 , and 238th in 2012 , in its list of the Best High Schools in America . In 2008 , a team of Amador Valley students won the national UNICEF @-@ sponsored Junior 8 Competition . The team traveled to <unk> , Japan to attend the 2008 Group of Eight ( G8 ) Summit of World Leaders to collaborate on solutions to world problems . Eight of Amador Valley 's teachers — Mark <unk> , Debbie Emerson , Jon Grantham , Tom Hall , Debbie Harvey , Brian Ladd , Marla Silversmith , and Eric Thiel — have been recognized as a Pleasanton Unified School District teacher of the year ; one of those honorees , Brian Ladd , was also designated an Alameda County teacher of the year . 
