Six Northshore Schools Honored by the State

Six Northshore elementary schools earned 2010 Washington Achievement awards. East Ridge, Kenmore, Sunrise, Wellington and Woodin elementary schools earned awards for overall excellence, and Maywood Hills and Woodin elementary schools were singled out for closing the achievement gap.

 Representatives from these schools will be honored during a ceremony on April 27 at Lincoln High School in Tacoma. Schools are selected based on their statewide assessment data for the three previous years. Schools are recognized for top performance in seven categories: overall excellence, language areas, math, science, extended graduation rate, improvement and closing the achievement gap. This is the first year school are being recognized specifically for improvement and closing the achievement gap.

 A total of 186 schools are receiving Washington Achievement Awards for 2010. Award-winning schools were notified today via email by State Superintendent Randy Dorn and State Board of Education Chair Jeff Vincent. The Washington Achievement Award is sponsored by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education.

 “In many ways, recognizing our best schools is one of the most important things we do at the state level,” said Jeff Vincent. “Spotlighting best practices is not only a celebration of our most successful schools, but also provides an opportunity for all of us to learn what those schools are doing right and how we might incorporate those same successful strategies in other schools across the state.”

 Schools are being recognized for being top performers in seven categories:

1.    Overall Excellence

2.    Language Arts

3.    Math

4.    Science

5.    Extended Graduation Rate (only awarded to high and comprehensive schools)

6.    Improvement

7.    Closing Achievement Gaps

 This is the first year schools are being recognized specifically for improvement and closing achievement gaps.

 “Improvement and equal opportunity for all students is key,” Dorn said. “My office continues to consider these some of our top priorities.”

 Dorn went on to say there are encouraging signs of improvement, especially at the middle school level, where the number of schools rated as ‘good,’ ‘very good’ or ‘exemplary’ has increased by 15 percent from two years ago.

 “We know that this is an extremely challenging task, and we want schools that are heading in the right direction to be rewarded for their hard work.”

 The award-winning schools will be honored during award ceremony on April 27 at Lincoln High School in Tacoma, itself an award winner for “Improvement.”