Jason Arndt jarndt@wolfrivermedia.com
Contributed photo Students of Gresham School cheer during an assembly celebrating five consecutive years as a state School of Recognition.
Gresham Community School on Thursday celebrated five consecutive years of being designated a Title 1 School of Recognition.
The award recognizes schools that have demonstrated success in educating students from low-income families.
“If it wasn’t for the effort of our students and staff and the support of our parents and community, we would not be here this morning,” Keary Mattson told students and staff during the morning assembly in the school gym.
Gresham and 172 other schools were recognized at a ceremony Oct. 13 in Madison.
Teachers Thomas Haight and Sean Anday accompanied Mattson to accept the awards. Haight accepted the award on behalf of the elementary school while Anday represented the upper grades.
Both the Gresham elementary and secondary schools received a plaque and $500. The high school was also given a special flag to mark five straight years as a School of Recognition recipient.
The district opted to use the money to reward students for their achievements, including movies, games, popcorn, soda and juice.
“You are the reason we won this award and we are spending the money on you. This is truly an all-school award,” Mattson said.
“It is a celebration of their efforts and it is time to sit back and have fun with their friends,” Mattson said following the assembly.
Newell Haffner, assistant principal and math/science teacher, said the entire community shares in the school district’s success.
“It is all of the staff we have hired, and they like what they do; and also parents, they are dedicated,” Haffner said. “They come in when we need them. … And they keep in touch.”
Criteria for School of Recognition awards include the following:
• Have above-average student academic performance on WKCE test scores (Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam) in reading and mathematics when compared to similar schools.
• Fall into one of the top three Accountability Index categories of “Meeting Expectations,” “Exceeding Expectations” or “Significantly Exceeding Expectations” on the School Report Card.
• Meet the state’s test-participation, attendance and dropout goals.
The state Department of Public Instruction uses the WKCE exam to shows how well students, schools and districts are performing in four main areas: student achievement in reading and math on statewide assessments, student growth in those assessments, closing achievement and graduation gaps, and readiness for college or careers.
Schools and districts receive scores of 0-100 in each category. Gresham scored 71.9 overall; second among 10 area school districts. Pulaski had the area’s high score — 73.