The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the State Board of Education (SBE) have announced that 381 schools across the state will be honored with 2012 Washington Achievement Awards.

The list of schools includes 20 schools in Lake Washington School District. They will receive a total of 29 recognitions. Juanita Elementary School became the district’s first ever winner in four different categories (overall excellence, math, science, and high progress). All award-winning schools will be honored during a ceremony on April 30 at Kentwood High School in Covington.

“These achievement awards confirm the hard work of our students, teachers and parents,” said Dr. Traci Pierce, superintendent. “I am proud that so many of the district’s schools are being recognized in a variety of areas.”

Schools are recognized as top performers in seven categories: Overall Excellence, Language Arts, Math, Science, Extended Graduation Rate, Closing Achievement Gaps and High Progress (Title I schools only). Some schools are honored in more than one of these categories.

Nine Lake Washington schools will be recognized for overall excellence: Carson Elementary, Juanita Elementary, Mann Elementary, Rockwell Elementary, Rosa Parks Elementary, Wilder Elementary, Kirkland Middle School, Eastlake High School and Lake Washington High School.

Six of these schools were recognized in 2011: Juanita Elementary, Mann Elementary, Rockwell Elementary, Rosa Parks Elementary, Eastlake High School and Lake Washington High School.

Lake Washington schools also fared well in science, with 12 schools recognized in this category. Audubon Elementary School, Blackwell Elementary, Discovery Community School, Juanita Elementary, Kirk Elementary, Mann Elementary, McAuliffe Elementary, Rockwell Elementary, Rosa Parks Elementary, Rush Elementary, Environmental and Adventure School and Northstar Middle School all will be recognized in this category.

Four schools were honored for achievement in math: Explorer Community School, Juanita Elementary, Rosa Parks Elementary and International Community School.

Juanita High School will be recognized for their extended graduation rate for the third year in a row while International Community School is being recognized in this category for their second year in a row.

Lake Washington High School is also being honored in Language Arts.

Juanita Elementary will also be recognized in the High Progress category for Title I schools. This category recognizes a school as being in the top 10 percent of Title I schools for both performance and improvement in both reading and math for three years.

Schools are selected for awards based on their statewide assessment data for the three previous years. This data is analyzed using the Achievement Index and methodology approved by both OSPI and the SBE.