Parkwood Elementary and Shorewood High School receive Washington Achievement awards

Parkwood Elementary faculty and staff
Photo courtesy Shoreline Schools
(click to enlarge)

Parkwood Elementary and Shorewood High School have been named as recipients of Washington Achievement Awards for 2011. The awards will be presented April 25 in a ceremony at Mariner High School in Everett.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education created the Washington Achievement Award to celebrate top-performing schools and to recognize achievement in multiple categories. This highly selective award is based on a school's performance according to the Washington Achievement Index, a comprehensive measurement of how schools in Washington are performing over time.

The Washington Achievement Award is given to elementary, middle, high and comprehensive schools in seven different categories: overall excellence, language arts, math, science, extended graduation rate (high and comprehensive schools only), improvement and closing achievement gaps.

Parkwood is among those schools honored for Overall Excellence. The overall excellence award is for schools whose overall two-year average put them in the top five percent. Parkwood will also receive a Washington Achievement Award for Closing Achievement Gaps. This is the second consecutive year Parkwood has received these two awards.

Parkwood has shown significant improvement in student achievement on state assessments during the past two years, particularly among students from low-income families and those with limited English proficiency. The school received the State Title I Academic Achievement Award in 2011 and the State Title I Improvement Award in 2007, 2010 and 2011. Laura Ploudre has been principal at Parkwood since 2001.

Shorewood will receive a Washington Achievement Award for Extended Graduation Rate. The award is for high performing schools and based on a two-year average. Shorewood reported a 93 percent extended graduation rate for the class of 2010. Bill Dunbar has been principal at Shorewood since 2007. The Shorewood assistant principals are Elaine Swanson and Ann Torres.

"Shorewood High School teachers, counselors and support staff deserve all the credit for their extensive efforts in helping our most challenged students," Dunbar said. "While we've maintained high standards and expectations for graduation, we've increased personal attention and intervention for struggling students with after school tutoring and follow-up on students with state testing and credit recovery."

The awards are part of the State Board's accountability program, adopted in 2009. Under the program, all schools are indexed according to outcomes and indicators in 2009 and 2010. The outcomes include student performance in statewide reading, writing, math and science tests.