Canyon Elementary School tops list of local award-winning schools

By JOSH MCDONALD

Staff Reporter

BOISE — The Idaho Department of Education recently released its list of goal maker and top performer schools and three Silver Valley schools are deserving of some attention for their efforts.

Canyon Elementary School was named as a top performer in English Language Arts Growth, John Mullan Elementary as a top performer in Engagement and Silver Hills Elementary as a goal maker in math.

One of these schools in particular shined a little more brightly than the others.

CES also brought home goal maker awards for both ELA and math.

The Top Performer schools are those who scored in the 90th percentile of the category assessed.

The categories assessed include: ELA (English Language Arts), Math, ELA Growth, Math Growth, English Language Growth (this category is for schools with high percentages of English Language Learners) and Engagement.

Canyon was recognized for the ELA Growth category — which is determined by student ISAT scores — and for engagement.

Engagement is measured by a state survey administered to all grade-school students.

The survey is designed to measure how “committed” students are in the areas of behavior, cognition and emotion with regard to school work and school environment.

With the average score across the state coming in at 65 percent “committed,” CES came in at 81 percent.

“I believe this is directly connected to the school climate that we foster at Canyon,” CES Principal Jennifer Ferreira said. “We work hard at making sure students enjoy coming to school and are actively engaged in meaningful work. We also have an impressive number of parents who spend a lot of time volunteering at our school. When students see their parents actively engaged in their education, it has a positive impact on them; parents who are committed to education send a strong message to students about the value of education.”

The goal maker schools that were recognized by the state are those that reached the target(s) set by the state.

There are three categories that schools could be recognized for; ELA (English Language Arts), Math and English Language Growth.

For Ferreira and staff, these awards are the culmination of exceptionally hard work and dedication from her staff, students, and the many people who freely give their time to the smallest public school in the area.

“I am really proud of this recognition,” Ferreira said. “I have to give kudos to the exceptional teaching and support staff at Canyon. I feel so fortunate to work with such a dedicated group of people. This recognition also means a lot because Canyon is such a unique school. As a Science Magnet school, we spend a good deal of time focusing on science and ways to integrate science into the curriculum. It’s great to see that we are able to excel in the area of science by giving students many opportunities for hands-on science exploration, but also be recognized in ELA and Math.”

To see all the data on the goal maker and top performer schools, visit www.sde.idaho.gov/assessment/accountability/index.html.