Thirty-five district schools earned 45 academic awards from the Colorado Department of Education based on 2016-17 Colorado Measures of Academic Success results.

“I am so proud of these schools and all their accomplishments. Schools in Jeffco brought home recognition for high academic performance, high academic growth, and for closing achievement gaps and giving all our students an opportunity to succeed,” said Dr. Jason Glass, superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools. “The number of awards for this year was even higher than the year before and exceeded our expectations. Hats off to the staff and students working in Jeffco Public Schools!”

Two Jeffco schools received the Center of Excellence Award this year: Pennington Elementary and Kullerstrand Elementary. This award recognizes Colorado public schools that enroll a student population of which at least 75 percent are at-risk pupils and that demonstrate the highest rates of student longitudinal growth, as measured by the Colorado Growth Model.

The John Irwin Schools of Excellence Award is given to schools that demonstrate excellent academic achievement over time with exceptional performance in math, English language arts, and science.

There are 27 Jeffco schools that received the award this year, including: D’Evelyn Jr./Sr. High School, Deer Creek Middle School, Dennison Elementary School, Devinny Elementary School, Fairmount Elementary School, Jefferson Academy, Jefferson Academy High School, Manning Option School, Marshdale Elementary School, Meiklejohn Elementary School, Mitchell Elementary School, Parmalee Elementary School, Ralston Elementary School, Ralston Valley High School, West Woods Elementary School and Westridge Elementary School.

The Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award is given to schools that demonstrate exceptional student growth.

There are 15 Jeffco schools that received the award this year, exceeding expectations on the academic achievement indicator.

Those schools include: Dennison Elementary School, Meiklejohn Elementary School, Parmalee Elementary School, Prospect Valley Elementary School, Vivian Elementary School and Warder Elementary School.

Additionally, Evergreen High School received the High School Academic Growth Award.

This award recognizes high schools that demonstrate the highest levels of students’ academic growth in reading, writing, and math, within each classification used by the statewide association for high school activities for the sport of football.