Clallam Bay School was one of six schools in the state to win a Great School award for marked improvement for a third consecutive year, while three other Peninsula schools — Dry Creek Elementary and Lincoln High School in Port Angeles and Quilcene High School — were given the annual award for the first time this year.
The Center for Educational Effectiveness, which sponsored the awards this year with the Washington Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa International, announced the awards Wednesday.
Top 5 percent
The Great School awards go to the top 5 percent of schools in improvement on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning tests in reading and math over the course of the last five years.
The five other schools that received the award for three years in a row are Nob Hill Elementary School in Yakima, Fruitland Elementary in Puyallup, Warren Hunt Elementary in Puyallup, Alcott Elementary in the Lake Washington School District and Icicle River Middle School in the Cascade School District.
Clallam Bay Principal Valeria Rieger said it wasn’t just one thing that kept the school improving year after year.
“We are taking the kids in reading and math and assessing their skill strength and their needs in those areas, and then doing small group lessons for about 30 minutes a day,” Rieger said.
“We’re focused, and the kids are focused and excited when it is time to go to the reading room.
“It isn’t just one thing. It is a focus and a strong belief that all of our kids can master the subjects.”
In the past, the award has been titled the “State Superintendent’s Schools of Distinction-Learning Improvement Award,” but this year the Center for Educational Effectiveness and the state Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa International are sponsoring it for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
“Recognition of the dedication and perseverance it takes to sustain improvement over multiple years is an essential component of supporting our educational system,” said Sue Mills, executive director at the Center for Educational Effectiveness, in a prepared statement.
Mills said that 55 elementary schools, 25 middle or junior high schools and 24 high schools were recognized statewide in 2009.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn will give other awards with other criteria later in the year, she said.
Port Angeles
The awards to Dry Creek Elementary and Lincoln High School, both in Port Angeles, were “a great and inspiring way to begin the new school year,” Port Angeles Superintendent Jane Pryne said.
“Teachers, staff, and students have been working hard to improve student math and reading skills, and the progress for Dry Creek and Lincoln students over the past five years is evident.”
Lincoln High School Principal Cindy Crumb said that the award reinforced the work the students and teachers have been doing at the alternative high school.
“I think it validates the work that students and teachers are doing and continue to do — the hard academic work, the collaboration, the planning,” she said.
“It’s been very intensive work. It’s paid off, and we’re continuing to work hard to get all our students to standard and graduation.
“I think the community should be very proud of Lincoln High School. Our school district supports a great alternative program for high school students.
“We may be known as an alternative high school, but our students must meet the same standards and do the same work as every other high school student in Washington state.”
Quilcene
Quilcene Superintendent David Andersen said he was proud of the high school for the achievement and that teachers at all levels were to be commended.
“We are thrilled that we’ve received this recognition and honor for the students and the staff,” Andersen said.
“It is really a combination of the students and teachers working hard to improve the learning overall.
“It isn’t just the high school, though.
“It is those underneath at the elementary and middle school levels that build the basis for that learning.
“Here it isn’t just one person in one year that does it.
“We are lucky because our schools are all in one campus, so it allows us to know the kids very well.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
