IL Board of Education Recognizes 5 District 116 Elementary Schools

Awards Salute Student Academic Achievement

Five Urbana School District #116 elementary schools have received awards from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for high academic achievement. Wiley, King, Thomas Paine, Prairie, and Leal Elementary Schools received the 2008 Spotlight Schools Award. Prairie Elementary School, along with winning a Spotlight Schools Award, also received an Academic Improvement Award. For more information, please see http://www.ilhonorroll.niu.edu/.

The Spotlight Schools Award recognizes high poverty schools where academic performance is closing the achievement gap. The Academic Improvement Award recognizes schools that have "posted substantial gains and demonstrate that exemplary progress is possible at every level and can be sustained." Prairie Elementary School was one of only 153 schools in the state to receive an Academic Improvement Award.

"I really commend the principals, staffs, as well as the students and parents (on receiving these awards). I think it's great," says Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Don Owen. "Their hard work is being recognized by the state and the regional office of education. A lot of the school improvement efforts are paying off so well."