Local Schools Receive State Achievement Awards

Eleven schools from South Central Washington were among the latest recipients to be honored with the statewide Washington Achievement Awards.  The annual awards were formally presented by the Washington State Board of Education and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction on April 25, at Mariner High School in Everett.

The Washington Achievement Awards recognize the state’s top-performing schools according to average calculations from the Washington Achievement Index.  Calculations are based on improvement from the previous year, how they compare to schools of similar demographics, and the degree to which they are closing achievement gaps.

Categories for special recognition awards are language arts (reading and writing combined), math, science, extended graduation rate, improvement, and closing achievement gaps. Overall excellence awards are also given to the top five percent of all elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as comprehensive schools.

Schools from South Central Washington that were recognized are:

• Cle Elum-Roslyn High School for extended graduation rate
• Sunnyside’s Outlook Elementary School for improvement
• Sunnyside’s Pioneer Elementary School for overall excellence
• Sunnyside’s Washington Elementary School for overall excellence, and for math
• Toppenish High School for overall excellence, language arts, extended graduation rate, and improvement (This is the 2^nd consecutive year Toppenish High School has been a Washington Achievement Award winner.)
• Wahluke’s Morris Schott Middle School for closing achievement gaps
• Wahluke’s Saddle Mountain Elementary School for language arts, math, and improvement   (This is the 2^nd consecutive year Saddle Mountain has been a Washington Achievement Award winner.)
• Yakima’s Davis High School for extended graduation rate
• Yakima’s Eisenhower High School for extended graduation rate (This is the 2^nd consecutive year Eisenhower has been a Washington Achievement Award winner.)
• Yakima’s Stanton Academy for improvement (This is the 2^nd consecutive year Stanton Academy has been a Washington Achievement Award winner.)
• Zillah High School for extended graduation rate, and for closing achievement gap