THIRTEEN REGION 12 SCHOOLS RECEIVE STATE RECOGNITION

WACO, TEXAS—Region 12 schools deserve a round of applause!  The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recently granted the 2008-2009 Title I Distinguished School Performance and Distinguished School Progress honors to 329 Texas campuses including thirteen located in Region 12.

Region 12 schools earning the Distinguished Performance honor include Academy Elementary – Academy ISD; Axtell Elementary – Axtell ISD; Mae Stevens Elementary – Copperas Cove ISD; Bowie Elementary – Corsicana ISD; Itasca High School, Itasca Junior High and Itasca Intermediate – Itasca ISD;  Nolanville Elementary – Killeen ISD; La Vega Elementary – La Vega ISD; Hewitt Elementary – Midway ISD; and West Elementary – West ISD. Those earning the Distinguished Progress honor include Aquilla School – Aquilla ISD and Drane Intermediate – Corsicana ISD.

Education Service Center Region 12 Superintendent Liaisons will present each of the schools with a certificate of achievement on behalf of the Texas Education Agency.  The presentations will be made at the districts’ upcoming school board meetings or the schools’ faculty meetings.
Distinguished Performance schools are recognized as consistently providing educational excellence, while Distinguished Progress schools are recognized for having made significant strides in reaching educational excellence.     

Barbara Agee, Assistant Director for Accountability and Federal Programs, stated “It is a great achievement to maintain the very high standards that are required to receive this honor.  Campuses which serve high percentages of low socio economic students (at least 40%) must have met Adequate Yearly Progress for the past two years and received the State’s rating of Recognized or Exemplary in 2006 and 2007 and received the highest rating of Exemplary in 2008. With progress standards increasing at both the federal and state level each year, these districts and campuses are to be commended for this accomplishment.  These distinguished schools serve as a role model for all of Region 12 schools.”

Agee said the schools have been invited to share their strategies of success with other educators by completing a “School Profile” which will be publicized via the Region 12 – Title I webpage.  Campus representatives have also been invited to serve on a Title I School Support Team in the role of advisor, where upon request, they will share information with other schools on ways to improve their Title I services.   

Title I is the largest of the federally funded elementary and secondary education programs and federal law requires each state to identify those Title I schools that are meeting or exceeding the state’s standards.  A complete list of the Title I Distinguished Schools in Texas is available at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/nclb/titleia/distingschools.html
           
For more information, please contact Barbara Agee at 254/297-1238 or bagee@esc12.net.