Three Durango School District 9-R elementary schools were honored for growth or excellence by the Colorado Department of Education on Wednesday.
“Our staff and students work hard every day to achieve lofty goals, overcome obstacles and achieve success,” 9-R Superintendent Dan Snowberger said.
“Our schools always give reason to be proud, and it is great to have state recognition for all their hard work and the success of our students.”
Sunnyside Elementary School received the John Irwin Award, which is given to schools that have academic success expectations over a period of three years. The excellence is measured using the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers English Language Art and mathematics tests and the Colorado Measures of Academic Success science tests, which are given in the third and fifth grades at the elementary level.
“The framework looks at the median student,” said Jeremy Meyer, director of communications for CDE, “then also breaks out how minority students, students who receive free and reduced (price) lunch and students with disabilities did.”
In Colorado, 168 of the 1,078 public elementary schools received the John Irwin Award.
Irwin, the award’s namesake, was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
He was one of the original co-sponsors of the state’s first charter school bill in 1992, which was passed the year after his death. Colorado was the third state to pass such a bill.
Animas Valley and Riverview elementary schools both received the Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award reflecting continuing improvement from 2014 to 2016.
“You have to have a series of years to measure growth, and this growth is higher than what was expected,” Meyer said.
The schools also were required to have 95 percent or more of their students take the tests.
The two schools were joined by 126 other elementary schools in the state receiving the award.
Joining Snowberger in Denver for the awards were Animas Valley Principal Michol Brammer, Sunnyside third-grade teacher Gina Ott and Riverview third-grade teacher Fran McManus.
abutler@durangoherald.com
Animas Valley Elementary score (PDF)
Sunnyside Elementary score (PDF)
