Fidalgo Elementary School has picked up two awards from the state Schools Superintendent. Fidalgo is one of just 53 elementary schools statewide to get the 2009 award for overall excellence and one of just 12 to win the Language Arts Excellence award at the elementary level.
Fidalgo Elementary School staff will be honored, along with the other statewide winners at a ceremony at the state capitol later in the spring. This year, 70 elementary, 26 middle, 52 high schools and 26 comprehensive schools received awards.
The awards are part of the State Board of Education’s accountability program, adopted in 2009. Under the program, all schools will be indexed according to outcomes and indicators from 2007 to 2009. The five outcomes are student performance in statewide reading, writing, math and science tests, as well as the school’s extended graduation rate, which includes those students who took longer than four years to graduate.
The awards are being given by the State Board and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. “We’re proud of these schools,” said state superintendent Randy Dorn. “They’re showing that great gains can be made for all students.”
“While No Child Left Behind tells us only how we’re not making the grade, the accountability index tells us where we are,” Dorn said. “We know we’re great work in this state. Teachers, administrators, classified employees – they’re all hard-working people who have a positive impact on our students.”