It was announced yesterday that three schools in the Sunnyside School District were among the nine schools in the Yakima Valley that were presented Washington Achievement Awards from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The recipients were chosen based on data from the Washington State Achievement Index, which measures test scores in reading, writing, math and science.
Pioneer Elementary, Washington Elementary and Outlook Elementary were awarded for overall excellence. Washington Elementary also received special recognition for their math scores, and Outlook received special recognition for overall improvement. It should be noted that Chief Kamiakin Elementary was just a few tenths of a point away from also joining the prestigious list. They should also be commended for their excellent academic gains.
In fact, I believe we should congratulate and celebrate each of the eight schools in our district for the tremendous academic growth that has been accomplished over the past few years. Our teachers, administrators and support staff have worked exceptionally hard to develop a system of continuous improvement district-wide. This includes development of uniform curriculum guides, research-based instructional practices and an assessment system that provides our teachers and administrators with timely and relevant data to adjust instruction based on students' needs. All of this work is focused around our district's overarching goal of 100 percent success for every student.
The work that has been undertaken to improve teaching and learning in our district has been difficult, but we are now beginning to see the positive impact this work is accomplishing. The most obvious achievement we have seen is the rapid rise in Sunnyside High School's graduation rate. In just five years, the graduation rate at SHS has risen from 41 percent to 71 percent. More students are graduating ready for college or careers than ever before.
Over the past two years we have also seen significant gains in math scores for every grade level tested by the state (grades 3-10). The average math test scores over the past two years have risen 17.5 percent. The most considerable math improvements have been in the 6th, 7th and 10 grades, where they increased math scores by an average of 28 percent.
Creating an educational system that shows such promising growth is the result of much hard work from all of our employees and students. I would like to publicly thank each of them for the difficult work they have undertaken to make these achievements possible.
I would also like to give a special thanks to our students' families and the community of Sunnyside as a whole for their continued support for our community's youth and schools. I look forward to what I know will be even greater achievements to come in the future.
- Brian Hart is executive director
of curriculum, instruction and
assessment for the Sunnyside
School District.
