Left to right: Superintendent Mark Ross, CAM Academy Principal Ryan Cowl, Daybreak Primary Principal Matt Kauffman, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, and Daybreak Primary Special Education teacher Amy Caldwel
Four schools in the Battle Ground school district earned awards as State Recognized Schools for the 2017-18 school year, marking them some of the highest performing schools in the state in the areas of growth and achievement.
CAM Academy, one of the district’s alternative schools, was recognized for its achievement in English language arts, math, graduation rate and School Quality and Student Success (SQSS). Yacolt Primary was honored for its growth in the Washington School Improvement Framework (WSIF) metrics while also narrowing the gap between the highest and lowest performing student groups. Daybreak Primary and Laurin Middle schools were also recognized for closing gaps and demonstrating improvement amount student groups identified for support.
“Recognized schools are in the top 20% on multiple measures and are closing achievement gaps or have all student groups achieving at a high level”, Kevin Laverty, chair of the State Board of Education said in a press release. “Every school that earned a State Recognized school distinction this year should be very proud of their students and their staff.”
The state selected 216 winning schools this year based on a recognition framework that incorporates state-level and local information to identify schools that are exemplars in terms of growth and achievement. The state used the WSIF measures. Award-winning schools were recognized as top performers in one of three categories: closing gaps which recognized schools with low performing student groups that showed substantial improvement, growth which recognized schools that make the largest annual gains on the WSIF measures and lastly, achievement which recognizes the highest achieving schools on ELA and math proficiency, graduation rate and SQSS.
CAM Academy principal Ryan Cowl said it takes a team effort to accomplish the school’s goals of high achievement and to maximize student success. “CAM Academy is a school that is built on character where students are challenged to always do their personal best,” Cowl said in a press release. “We have an incredibly caring and supportive staff that are readily available to support students.”
“Collaboration is a major key to our success,” Principal of Yacolt Primary School Lynell Murray said in a press release. “All of our teams, including our specialist and special education teachers, continually discuss students achievement and partner together to achieve student success.”
“Through relationships, we are able to better identify student needs and the supports necessary,” Laurin middle school principal Travis Drake said in a press release. “Whether through our daily intervention and enhancement period or our weekly advisory period, we are intentional and relentless in the pursuit of ensuring all of our students have an opportunity to succeed.”
