The Kansas Department of Education has released its fifth annual list of Governor’s Achievement Award winning schools, and Westwood View Elementary is the lone representative from the Shawnee Mission School District.
The awards take a number of factors into consideration, as detailed in the press release announcing the awards:
To receive this prestigious award, schools must have achieved the Standard of Excellence in both reading and mathematics for 2010. Additionally, the school must have made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in both reading and mathematics and one additional measure in 2010. For elementary schools and middle/junior high schools the additional AYP measure is attendance and for high schools the measure is graduation rate. Additionally, the school must have been among the top 5 percent of schools in both reading and mathematics on the 2010 state assessments at its respective level.
Shawnee Mission hasn’t brought home many awards since the program began in 2006. It fared relatively well the first year, with SM Nortwest, SM East, Brookwood Elementary, Oak Park Elementary and Prairie Elementary all receiving honors. Shawnee Mission East made the list in 2007, but no Shawnee Mission schools qualified in 2008 or 2009. By contrast, the Blue Valley district had 14 award winners among its ranks this year.
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