The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the State Board of Education (SBE) have announced the 401 schools statewide that will receive Washington Achievement Awards. Of those 401 schools, 24 are in Lake Washington School District (LWSD), the sixth largest district in the state. More schools in LWSD earned awards than any other district including the five districts that serve more pupils than LWSD. The 24 LWSD schools will receive a total of 41 recognitions. All award-winning schools will be honored during a ceremony on April 28 at Spanaway Lake High School in Spanaway, Wash.

“As a fast-growing school district, we are committed to maintaining our high academic standards,” said Dr. Traci Pierce, superintendent. “While we are adding hundreds of students to our district each year, our teachers are working hard to make sure that every student who comes to us is learning. These recognitions show that we continue to have strong academic success.”

Washington Achievement Award winners are selected using the Washington Achievement Index and criteria in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) flexibility waiver. Schools are recognized as top performers in six categories: Overall Excellence, High Progress, Reading Growth, Math Growth, five-year graduation rate and English Language Acquisition. Some schools are honored in more than one of these categories.

Five LWSD schools in Kirkland will be recognized for overall excellence: Discovery Community School, International Community School, Juanita Elementary, Muir Elementary and Northstar Middle School.

Four of these schools were recognized with overall excellence awards each year from 2011 through 2013: Juanita Elementary, Mann Elementary, Rockwell Elementary and Rosa Parks Elementary.

Five LWSD schools in Kirkland will be recognized with high progress awards: Finn Hill Middle School, Kamiakin Middle School, Kirkland Middle School, Northstar Middle School and Rose Hill Elementary.

Lake Washington schools performed well in reading growth, with five Kirkland schools getting special recognition awards in this category: Discovery Community School, Juanita Elementary, Lake Washington High School, Muir Elementary and Twain Elementary.

Five special recognition awards for math growth will be given to LWSD schools in Kirkland: Discovery Community School, Kirkland Middle School, Muir Elementary, Rose Hill Elementary and Twain Elementary.

One school in Kirkland will receive special recognition awards for English language acquisition: Juanita Elementary.

For the fifth year in a row, Juanita High School will receive a Washington Achievement Award Special Recognition for its Fifth-Year Graduation Rate (also known as an extended graduation rate).

Schools are selected for awards based on their statewide assessment data for the three previous years. This data is analyzed using the Achievement Index and methodology approved by both OSPI and the SBE. For more information, visit the Washington Achievement Awards section of the OSPI website.