Neah Bay and Greywolf elementary schools in Clallam County are among three public schools on the North Olympic Peninsula that have earned 2014 School of Distinction awards.
Quilcene School in East Jefferson County also won the award.
This is the fourth year Neah Bay Elementary in the Cape Flattery School District on the West End of Clallam County has won the award.
It is the second consecutive year for both Greywolf Elementary in Sequim and Quilcene School.
The schools were honored because they have been in the top 5 percent of schools in Washington state for reading and math improvement over the past five years.
“It is very prestigious,” Gary Neal, Sequim schools’ assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said last week.
“What Greywolf has proven two years in a row is how reading and math have been at a very high performance level.”
The award was the latest in a series Neah Bay Elementary has won in addition to being named a School of Distinction for four years.
Last fall, it won the Title I Part A Award. In December 2013, the school was named a National Distinguished Title I school.
In 2012, it received two Washington Achievement Awards.
“It is a great honor to have our students, staff, parents and community recognized for their combined efforts to ensure the success of our students,” said Kandy Ritter, superintendent of Cape Flattery School District, last week.
The 2014 School of Distinction is one of five awards Quilcene High School has received since 2009.
The school previously earned the School of Distinction award in 2009 and three Washington State Achievement Awards for high graduation rates consecutively in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
“Winning the award validates the energy that our staff puts into the educational career of our students,” said Quilcene District Superintendent Wally F. Lis.
“In a small school setting like Quilcene, our staff has the opportunity to reach out and connect with students in a one-to-one basis, and the results of that type of individual connection often show up academically,” Lis said.
“We are pleased to receive this honor.”
The award is sponsored by the Center for Educational Effectiveness, along with the state Association of Educational Service Districts, the Association of Washington School Principals, Washington Association of School Administrators and Washington State School Directors’ Association.
A total of 101 schools statewide received the award: 54 elementary schools, 22 middle and junior high schools, 17 high schools and eight alternative schools.
“These schools are from all regions of the state, all sizes of towns, with a range from 2.7 percent to 100 percent poverty and enrollment of English language learners as high as 40 percent,” said Greg Lobdell, president of the Center for Educational Effectiveness.
“These schools demonstrate that significant improvement is occurring all across our diverse public schools.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
