The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the State Board of Education (SBE) have announced the 258 schools statewide that will receive Washington Achievement Awards — 25 of those schools are in Lake Washington School District (LWSD).
More schools in LWSD earned awards than any other district in the state. The 25 LWSD schools will receive a total of 47 recognitions, including 17 awards for overall excellence. All award-winning schools will be honored during a ceremony on May 10 at Union Gap School in Union Gap.
“These recognitions show that we are committed to maintaining our high academic standards,” said Superintendent Dr. Traci Pierce. “As a fast-growing school district, we add hundreds of students to our district each year. Even with this growth, our teachers and principals work hard to make sure that every student who comes to us is learning. These recognitions show that we continue to have strong academic success.”
The awards use the SBE revised achievement index and are based on statewide assessment data for the three previous years. The achievement index measures school performance, emphasizing improvement and recognition. Schools cannot be listed as Priority or Focus and must have at least 95 percent participation on state tests to qualify for recognition.
Schools are recognized as top performers in six categories: Overall Excellence, High Progress, Reading Growth, Math Growth, 5-year graduation rate and English Language Acquisition. Some schools are honored in more than one of these categories.
Seventeen LWSD schools will be recognized for overall excellence, including the following from Redmond:
Louisa May Alcott Elementary School, John James Audubon Elementary School, Explorer Community School, Horace Mann Elementary School, Norman Rockwell Elementary School, Rosa Parks Elementary School, Ben Rush Elementary School and Stella Schola Middle School.
Four of these schools have been recognized for overall excellence each year since 2011: Mann, Rockwell and Rosa Parks elementary schools.
Redmond Elementary School will also be recognized with high progress awards.
LWSD schools performed well in English Language Arts growth, with 15 schools getting special recognition awards in this category, including the following Redmond schools: Alcott, Emily Dickinson Elementary, Explorer Community, Redmond, Rockwell and Rosa Parks elementary schools and Stella Schola Middle School.
The following Redmond schools received recognition awards for math growth: Rosa Parks and Ben Rush elementary schools.
The following Redmond schools will receive special recognition awards for English language acquisition: Dickinson, Rockwell and Rosa Parks elementary schools and Rose Hill Middle School.
Schools are selected for awards based on their statewide assessment data for the three previous years. This data is analyzed using the achievement index and methodology approved by both OSPI and the SBE. For more information, visit the Washington Achievement Awards section of the OSPI website.
