Wahitis receives School of Distinction award
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald Officials with the Othello School District show off the School of Distinction banner at Wahitis Elementary School on Tuesday.
OTHELLO — Parents, students, and Othello school officials gathered Wednesday evening to celebrate Wahitis Elementary School being named one of Washington state’s 2016 “Schools of Distinction.”
The award is given to the top 5 percent of schools in Washington that show sustained improvement in math and English test scores over the course of the previous five years.
Or in the case of the brand-new Wahitis Elementary, the last three years.
“Just do it, then next year we’ll do it better. That was a phrase from my first year of teaching,” said Wahitis teacher Sonny Garza. “I’m in my fifth year, and it still resonates.”
Garza, along with many of the other speakers Tuesday evening, attributed the success at Wahitis to high standards and expectations, a strong bond of trust and a shared mission among teachers and administrators, and a belief that all students should succeed.
“All of our students are all of our students,” Garza told parents gathered in the school auditorium. “Not only are our kids cared about by their homeroom teachers, but they are challenged and cared about by many other teachers too.”
“No one gets to give up, opt out, or fail,” Garza added.
Newly installed superintendent Chris Hurst credited former Wahitis Principal Pete Perez — now the Othello schools assistant superintendent — for much of the work that boosted the school’s language and math scores.
“We celebrate grit here,” Perez said. “And some of the grittiest people I know work at this school.”
According to Hurst, Wahitis boosted its language scores 7 percentage point from 29 percent in 2015 to 36 percent this year, while raising its math scores from 44 percent to 50 percent over the same period.
The scores mean that in language, for example, Wahitis Elementary’s third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders perform better than only 36 percent of similar students across the state.
“You are one of 94 schools to receive this award,” said Teri Kessie, director of student and school success with Education Service District 123 in Pasco. “This is something to be very proud of.”