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News Release - More than 320 performance awards given to schools, districts at annual ceremony

Nov. 18, 2019

More than 320 performance awards given to schools, districts at annual ceremony

In total, 65 districts, 257 schools throughout Colorado honored

DENVER - Hundreds of schools and dozens of school districts were honored today during the annual awards ceremony that recognizes and celebrates 2019 performance accomplishments. 

"It is a privilege to be able to recognize the hard work going on every day in our schools that make these awards happen," said Education Commissioner Katy Anthes. "Each one of these commemorations represents the dedication of an untold number of administrators, teachers, support staff, students and parents. By acknowledging great work, we move closer to establishing best practices and get closer to finding ways to abolishing the equity gaps that have had a devastating grip on our state's education for too long." 

Among the awards, 19 schools in nine school districts were honored with the Centers of Excellence Award that demonstrates the highest sustained rates of student longitudinal growth as measured by the Colorado Growth Model among those that have at least 75 percent at-risk students.
 
The event attended by Gov. Jared Polis and members of the State Board of Education also recognized recipients of the Districts Accredited with Distinction Award, Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award, High School Academic Growth Award, John Irwin School of Excellence and National Blue Ribbon Schools.
 
Here are descriptions of the award categories:
 
The Districts Accredited with Distinction awards districts that have earned 80 percent or more of possible points on the District Performance Frameworks. The District Performance Frameworks measure student performance in academic achievement, academic growth, academic growth gaps and post-secondary and workforce readiness under the state’s accountability system. In 2019, 18 districts earned this award.
 
The Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Awards are given to schools that demonstrate excellent student growth. On the School Performance Framework used by the state to evaluate schools, these schools “exceed” expectations on the indicator related to longitudinal academic growth over three years. In 2019, 99 schools earned this award.
 
The High School Academic Growth Awards recognize high schools that demonstrate the highest levels of student academic growth in reading, writing and math, within each classification used by the statewide association for high school activities for the sport of football. In 2019, seven schools demonstrated the highest rate of student longitudinal growth.
 
The John Irwin Awards are given to schools that demonstrate excellent academic achievement. On the School Performance Framework, these schools “exceed” expectations on the indicator for academic achievement over three years. In 2019, 174 schools earned this award.
 
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle and high schools based on overall academic excellence or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. In 2019, five schools earned this award.
 
Click here to download a spreadsheet of all of the 2019 winners (XLS).