Colorado honors two 90-90-90 schools - Leadville and Las Animas

Las Animas and Westpark Elementary Schools Win Top Title I Award 

 

The Colorado Department of Education announced today the selection of Las Animas Elementary School and Westpark Elementary School as Title I "Distinguished Schools" of the year.

 

The award recognizes two Title I schools—one that has achieved academic success, and one that made progress in closing achievement gaps associated with race and poverty.

 

Las Animas Elementary School is located in Las Animas RE-1 School District in southeastern Colorado; Westpark Elementary School is located in Lake County R-1 School District in Leadville.

 

Each school will receive $10,000 and both will be invited to send representatives to the National Title I conference from Jan. 31 – Feb. 3, 2008 in Nashville, Tenn. Colorado's distinguished schools will be honored at the event along with distinguished schools from around the country.

 

"The principals and teachers in these two schools have blended high expectations with an unwavering focus on improving student achievement," said Commissioner of Education Dwight Jones. "Congratulations to these two schools for this well-deserved recognition." 

 

Las Animas Elementary School was nominated for this award based on outstanding academic achievement for Title I students.

 

"The staff and students at Las Animas Elementary School are excited to receive this award," said Principal Libby Hiza. "Every year we have set a goal to become a '90-90-90' school and have worked hard to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure that every child succeeds. It is rewarding to reach this pinnacle of achievement, and this recognition gives us the energy we need to continue to grow!"

 

A "90-90-90" school is one where 90 percent of the students are minorities, 90 percent are eligible for free or reduced lunch under federal poverty guidelines, and 90 percent are achieving at or above grade level.

 

At Las Animas Elementary School, 97 percent of the students performed at the partially proficient and higher levels in both reading and math on the 2007 CSAP. Additionally, 92 percent of students were proficient or advanced in reading and 87 percent were proficient or advanced in math.

 

Westpark Elementary School won the award based on success closing the achievement gap between students eligible for free or reduced lunch and those not eligible.

 

In 2005-2006 school year, only 75 percent of the students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch scored at a proficient level on CSAP. In 2006-2007 the percentage soared to 95 percent—an improvement of 20 percentage points.

 

"In January 2006, while looking at student data, the staff was in tears trying to find success," said Westpark Principal Linda Adams. "Now we are again in tears receiving this award. We followed our motto and did 'Whatever it takes.'"

 

In addition to high performance on CSAP, both schools were required to have made Adequate Yearly Progress targets and have at least 35 percent of the student body in both schools eligible for free or reduced lunch.

 

Title I, which is part of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), supports school and district programs to improve student achievement.

 

The U.S. Department of Education distributes Title I funds to states for the purpose of districts providing additional instruction for students at risk of not meeting reading and math standards. In Colorado, Title I provides 150,000 students in 608 schools with approximately $116 million in additional funding for struggling students.

 

For more information, contact Mark Stevens, 303-866-3898, or Tanya Price, 303-866-6397, in the CDE O