Four North Olympic Peninsula schools earned the Washington Achievement Award for 2011, including two that were recognized as being among the best schools in the state.
Two Port Angeles schools, Stevens Middle and Dry Creek Elementary, plus Port Townsend’s Grant Street Elementary and Quilcene High School received notification of their awards Wednesday.
The award-winning schools — 275 statewide — will receive their awards at a ceremony April 25 at Mariner High School in Mukilteo.
Stevens Middle School won the state’s overall excellence award for the third straight year, as well as a separate award for science education.
The award, one of 21 granted to middle schools statewide, means it is one of the 21 best-performing middle schools in the state based on six academic achievement benchmarks: overall excellence, language arts, math, science, improvement and closing achievement gaps.
A seventh benchmark, extended graduation rate, is used only for high schools.
Economic levels
Many of the other schools on the list are high-income, high-performance school districts such as Bainbridge Island and Bellevue, said Stevens Principal Chuck List.
“We’re equal to them,” List said.
The 600 students at Stevens includes 50 percent who qualify for free and reduced lunches and a high population of Native American students, mostly from the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe.
Pupils from those groups often have difficult economic situations at home, List said.
The school proved that when they outstripped state achievement levels by a large margin.
In 2011, 84.9 percent of Stevens’ seventh-grade students met or exceeded standards in writing, 73 percent in math and 64 percent in reading.
Statewide, 71 percent met or exceeded standards in writing, 57 percent in math and 56.5 percent in reading.
Among Stevens’ eighth-grade students, 88.4 percent met or exceeded standards in science, 78 percent in reading and 69 percent in math.
Statewide, 61.6 percent met or exceeded standards in science, 68.7 percent in reading and 50.4 percent in math.
Science award
The school’s science award was even more exclusive than the overall excellence award, granted to only 10 schools in 2011.
Stevens’ student accomplishments can be traced directly to the school’s block schedule and teaching teams, a strategy developed five years ago when the school was struggling, List said.
The Stevens school day is on a block schedule, with three 90-minute classes for math, English and science courses and a fourth block broken into two classes for social studies, physical education, health and an elective.
Students can get a more solid understanding of the core skills with a longer class period, List said.
Another element of the block schedule is teacher teams, which meet daily to coordinate assignment schedules.
If there is a big test in math, the English and science teachers don’t assign much work, or if a major science project is due, math and English classes are given fewer assignments.
The intense focus on core skills leaves little time for electives and social studies but gives the students a solid base to prepare for high school, where the students can use the essential skills learned in core classes to excel in all subjects, he said.
List said another tactic at Stevens was to use solid data to make decisions.
At the end of each quarter, semester and year, teachers examine data gathered from the previous time period to see what works and what doesn’t, keeping the successful strategies and discarding what doesn’t work, he said.
Dry Creek award
Dry Creek Elementary School also received an overall excellence award for student achievement.
“I’m so proud of our school,” said Principal Kate Wenzl.
In 2009, the school was recognized as a “Great School” for academic improvement and in 2011 received an award for improvement as a Title I school, Wenzl said.
Nearly 80 percent of the school’s students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and more than a quarter of the school’s students are from the Lower Elwha tribe, making the school’s achievement all the more valued, she said.
“We broke what educational research said should be our barriers,” Wenzl said.
Wenzl said the school’s success can be credited to the school’s partnerships with the tribe, the Port Angeles community, parents and hard work from the school’s faculty and staff.
“This award is amazing,” Wenzl said.
Grant Street School
Port Townsend’s Grant Street Elementary was one of eight elementary schools statewide to receive a Washington Improvement Award over a two-year period.
“It’s nice to be recognized,” said Grant Street Principal Steven Finch. “The work that we’re doing at Grant Street is paying off.”
The school has about 300 students in kindergarten through third grade.
The only students tested at the school are the third-graders who improved scores from 71 percent who met or exceeded reading standards in 2010 to 75.6 percent in 2011 and in math improved from 40 percent in 2010 to 59 percent in 2011.
Quilcene High School
Quilcene High School, recognized as a “comprehensive” K-12 school, received a Washington Improvement Award for extended graduation rate.
Achievement for this award is measured by the number of high school seniors who do not graduate with their class but remain in school and earn their diploma.
“We can do this because we are a small school. We have a one-to-one connection with the students,” said Quilcene School District Superintendent Wally Lis.
Having a more personal relationship with the students allows staff to get struggling students back on track, Lis said.
The district also received this award in 2010.
More information on the Washington Achievement Awards can be found at the Department of Education website at http://tinyurl.com/7wnluyq.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
