Two North Olympic Peninsula Schools were honored with Washington Achievement Awards, while another won a language arts award and a fourth was honored in the extended graduation category.
Stevens Middle School in Port Angeles and Clallam Bay School were named as overall achievers in the awards announced last week.
Lincoln High School in Port Angeles was honored in the language arts category.
Port Townsend High School was named as a high achiever in extended graduations.
A total of 174 schools in the state were selected for the awards.
“This highly selective award is based on your school’s performance according to the newly created School Accountability Index, a comprehensive measurement of how schools in Washington are performing over time,” State Superintendent Randy Dorn wrote in the congratulatory letters to the schools.
Six categories
The awards were given to elementary, middle, high and comprehensive schools in six categories: overall excellence, language arts, math, science, extended graduation rate (high and comprehensive schools only) and gifted education.
“The selection process for the Washington Achievement Award is very rigorous and your staff, students, parents and community can take real pride in being part of this elite group,” Dorn said.
This year, 70 elementary, 26 middle, 52 high schools and 26 comprehensive schools throughout the state received awards.
The test scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test for schools throughout the state were major factors in the consideration for the awards.
Also considered were the achievement of students who are not from low-income families, achievement of students from low-income families, achievement of all students when compared to peers and improvement in the achievement of all students from the previous year.
“This is a schoolwide award that recognizes the outstanding effort of the students, certified and classified staff, volunteers and parents,” said Stevens Middle School Principal Chuck Lisk.
“It is an honor to work in a building with a team of professionals who do not give up on students and set the bar high.”
Clallam Bay School was honored for its achievements in kindergarten through 12th grade, Principal Valeria Rieger said.
“We are really excited about this,” she said.
“It has been a lot of really hard work understanding what the new expectations are, where our students are performing well, where we can build on their strengths and where areas should be filled in that they are struggling.
“It is nice as a small school though. . . . We are looking forward to finishing out this year and planning for next.”
Staff effort
The award to Lincoln High School reflects the staff’s effort to increase the academic achievement of the students, Principal Cindy Crumb said.
“This award clearly exemplifies the hard work we have been involved in for the past five years,” she said.
“We are all proud of our students, and I am honored to work alongside such a committed staff. We appreciate the recognition, and our staff and students are certainly deserving of it.”
Port Townsend High School’s work to encourage all students to obtain a degree was honored in the extended graduation category.
“[Principal] Carrie Ehrhardt and her staff work really hard to help all of the students graduate — even if they can’t do it in four years,” said Superintendent Tom Opstad.
“It is a really positive thing for the high school and very exciting to be recognized for an area that most people don’t think too much about.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
