Illahee and Mill Plain Elementary Schools along with 84 other Washington schools received the 2007 State Superintendent’s Learning Improvement Award and the designation of “School of Distinction” for their dramatic improvements in students’ reading and mathematics skills. The announcement and presentation took place at a ceremony at ESD 112. 

Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson said “We created this award to honor and celebrate the amazing progress schools have made – and continue to make – in helping our students acquire the knowledge and skills that will serve them the rest of their lives. The increased performance recognized by these awards is evidence of the educational transformation taking place in our schools.”

View a larger photo

The Schools of Distinction represent the top 5 percent of elementary, middle and high schools whose students have shown outstanding growth in both reading and mathematics skills during a six-year period. The winning schools are composed of 51 elementary schools, 20 middle schools and 15 high schools – out of nearly 2,500 schools in the state. To be considered for the award, each school had to meet the current year’s state learning targets on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning for students in both reading and mathematics. Schools that met the reading and mathematics targets were then evaluated for six-year gains on the state’s “Learning Improvement Index.” Because the award is based on improvement across a six-year period, only results from grades four, seven and 10 were used, as those are the only grade levels with six years of trend data.

Both Illahee and Mill Plain Elementary Schools were presented with awards and a large banner reading “School of Distinction – 2007 State Superintendent’s Learning Improvement Award.”

Congratulations to the Illahee and Mill Plain Elementary Schools staffs for this recognition of their hard work and dedication.