Wahluke receives award

MATTAWA - According to principal Jeff Pietila, the students and staff of Wahluke High School were notified last week that the school has been awarded a 2014 Washington Achievement Award.

The recognition is in the area of High Progress, an award that is granted to the top 10 percent of public schools in the state in the areas of achievement and improvement in reading and math for three years.

Wahluke received this award in the same category last year, and this is the third time in the six years of the program that Wahluke High School has been recognized.

In 2009 the school received recognition in the category of extended graduation rate.

The Washington achievement Awards are sponsored by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the Washington State Board of Education. Award winners are elected on calculations based on student test scores collected statewide over three years, and - for high schools - on graduation rates.

The awards recognize the state's 401 top-performing schools in six different categories: Overall Excellence (top 5 percent in the state, based on a three-year composite rating), Reading Growth (top 5 percent in reading growth ratings during three years), Math Growth (top 5 percent in math growth ratings during three years), Extended Graduation Rate (only awarded to high schools), English Language Acquisition (top 5 percent in the state, based on a state language proficiency assessment and other criteria), and High Progress (top 10 percent for achievement and improvement in both reading and math for three years).

Pietila noted that principal Missy Stevenson and her students and staff at Mattawa Elementary also received this award, in the same category as the high school.