2 Ferndale Schools and the School Board receive awards

Central Elementary School and Windward High School were recently announced as recipients of 2017 School of Distinction awards. This is the second time Central Elementary has received this award, having also been named in 2015.

Recipient schools are recognized for sustained improvement over a five-year period in English language arts (ELA), math and, for high schools, the graduation rate. 99 schools across Washington State were recognized with 2017 School of Distinction awards.

The annual School of Distinction awards are sponsored by the Center for Educational Effectiveness (CEE) in partnership with the Superintendents of the Educational Service Districts, the Washington State School Directors’ Association, the Association of Washington School Principals, Washington Association of School Administrators and the Washington Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. Primary research and analysis is performed by the CEE.

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Central Elementary School serves approximately 340 students in grades K-5 and Windward High School serves 70 students in grades 9-12. The Ferndale School District recently announced the planned closure of Windward High School.

The Ferndale School Board was also recently recognized by the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA) with a 2017 Board of Distinction award. The Boards of Distinction recognition program awards school boards that demonstrate alignment with Washington School Board Standards.

To be considered for the award, a board submits two essays. One essay explains the board’s efforts to close the Opportunity Gap and a second which describes the application of one of the WSSDA Standards for school boards. For the latter, the Ferndale School Board chose to submit an essay about the standard to “Engage local community and represent the values and expectations they hold for their schools by ensuring district information and decisions are communicated community-wide,” according to the Ferndale School District website.

31 boards applied for the 2017 recognition with 22 receiving an award according to a WSSDA press release.