Two Clover Park Schools Recognized for Student Performance

They did the work, and now they are getting the notice.

and are among the 2010 recipients of the Washington Achievement Award from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. 

Schools were selected based on their statewide assessment data for the previous three years. Custer was recognized for its work in closing the achievement gap, and Hudtloff, for its overall excellence among schools with significant gifted populations.

“It’s always a great honor when they recognize that your school has done well,” said Custer principal Bev Eastman. “It makes the staff proud and it makes the kids and the staff work harder than ever.”

Custer has consistently made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), a measurement defined by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, by utilizing targeted math and reading interventions and customizing instruction based on state and district assessment data. Students are grouped based on achievement levels in an effort to boost learning, Eastman said.

Eastman said that the staff work with each student to make sure that they achieve to the highest level that they can.

“As a result of that, all kids, particularly kids of color, have been able to improve significantly,” she said.

At Hudtloff, principal Moureen David said they have been paying attention to research over the years and trying to implement – one step at a time – how to improve instruction and what happens every day in the classroom.

“We’re being more rigorous,” she said. “All kids need to learn what they need to learn. Not some kids – all kids.”

David said the award confirms the work that they are doing and the commitment of Hudtloff’s teachers.

“They’re incredible,” she said. “They work really hard, so it’s really nice to see them be rewarded in this way with this kind of recognition.”

Student performance in determining the winners was graded in five areas: reading, writing, math and science tests, and extended graduation rates to include high-school students who take longer than four years to graduate.

Each category was weighed by four indicators: achievement by students from low-income families; achievement by those not from low-income families; achievement measured against peer sub-groups, such as disabilities, English Language Learners (ELL), gifted or low-income homes and mobility; and improvement of the school’s entire student body over the previous year.

To help students achieve, David said that her staff has instituted such programs as after-school homework help, a homework club and Saturday school, the latter having been implemented since the spring semester began.

“We’re still struggling to get all students to standard, but this kind of recognition demonstrates that our work is paying off in ways that maybe aren’t obvious.”

Eastman said that she believes it is harder these days to receive recognition.

“I think the stakes have gotten higher, and the expectations of staff and students and the level of achievement expected has gotten higher, too,” she said.

Eastman said that a speaker at a recent administration meeting spoke about student achievement and success greatly improving when a positive relationship is fostered between students and teachers.

“We have really focused on that,” she said. “No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship. And the relationship that the staff has with each other helps students achieve.

“The commitment my staff has to the kids and the families and each other is really the key to the success we have had – and they would say that, too.”

The schools will be honored April 27 at a ceremony at Lincoln High School in Tacoma.