State honors counties’ schools for excellence

EVERETT — Educators from across the state, including eight school districts in Snohomish and Island counties, were honored Wednesday with achievement awards from state Superintendent Randy Dorn.

“I really believe we’re on the right track as a nation and as a state in becoming more innovative and meeting the needs of individual students,” Dorn said. “It’s really a celebration of successes.”

About 375 people attended the awards ceremony, held at Mariner High School. Awards were presented to 275 public schools for their academic performance. The winners were first announced in February.

Everett’s Gateway Middle School received the overall excellence award for the fourth consecutive year. It was one of 10 Everett schools receiving the overall excellence award, a distinction earned by just 5 percent of schools in the state.

The award is given to schools that perform well over the previous two years on tests of reading, writing math and science. It also recognizes high schools with high graduation rates.

Peter Scott, Gateway’s principal, said the award represents continuous improvement over time. Tests results show that most kids are meeting or exceeding standards, he said. “This is good. How far can we go? That’s the question.”

Jackson High School received special recognition for language arts.

“This puts us in the top tier of the 20 largest school districts in the state,” said Jeff Russell, Everett School Board president.

Awards also were given to schools performing well in individual categories, such as language arts, math, science, improvement, closing achievement gaps and extended graduation rates, which includes students who graduate, but take more than four years to earn their diploma.

The Mukilteo School District won six awards, including one for overall excellence for Kamiak High School.

“This is the most we’ve had,” said Marci Larsen, superintendent. “This kind of work takes years to do.”

List of winning schools

Here is a list of schools in Snohomish and Island counties that received awards Wednesday for overall excellence.

It is one of seven categories for which 250 Washington schools received achievement awards from state Superintendent Randy Dorn and the state Board of Education.

The entire list of award winners is online at http://tinyurl.com/schoolwinners.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Cedar Wood (Everett)

Forest View (Everett)

Mill Creek (Everett)

Silver Firs (Everett)

Silver Lake (Everett)

Woodside (Everett)

Discovery (Mukilteo)

Endeavour (Mukilteo)

Odyssey (Mukilteo)

MIDDLE AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS