“This came at the right time to boost the morale,” Mitchell added.
Although the distinction is based in part on standardized test
Dublin Elementary was named the 20th best elementary school in the state of Texas by the U.S. News and World Report last week, prompting a celebration Monday in which school staff took photos by a Card My Yard sign celebrating the achievement.
“For us to be 20th in the state out of 5,151 schools in the state of Texas is outstanding ,” said Dublin Elementary Principal Kalley Mitchell.
Mitchell also pointed out that the ranking was without qualifications.
“The schools that are above us are very wealthy, big schools in Dallas, South Lake, Fort Worth and Odessa,” Mitchell said. A lot of these schools are GT campuses and one is even engineering focused.
“I’m so proud of everybody here because it takes everybody from Pre-K up through 3rd to get an achievement like this,” said Mitchell, sharing the credit with all of the campus staff that take care of elementary students every day, from teachers to custodians, cafeteria workers and parprofessionals.
According to U.S. News and World Report, schools are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation, and how well they prepare their students for high school. scores at the third grade level from the past two years, Mitchell said the campus works together to make sure that the students in each class are properly prepared for the next year with specific goals.
She also reported that these goals exceed those set by the Texas Education Agency with Dublin students pushed to know 100 sight words in kindergarten compared to the 25 suggested by the state. Dublin teachers also aim to get first graders reading independently following the Christmas break.
“We couldn’t get there in the third grade if we didn’t start on the right foot,” she said, adding that success in the early grades is required to get the other campuses in the district where they need to be.