The Littleton Public Schools Board of Education recently honored several school communities for receiving the highest honors for academic achievement and academic growth as measured by the Colorado Department of Education. Littleton Public Schools was recently presented with 14 awards from the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). In addition to 10 John Irwin School of Excellence Awards, three Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Awards and the English Language Proficiency Act (ELPA) Excellence Award, LPS earned the rating of “Accredited with Distinction” for the 7th consecutive time.

2017 John Irwin Award
The John Irwin Awards are given to schools that demonstrate exceptional academic achievement over time. These schools received an “Exceeds Expectations” rating on the Academic Achievement indicator of the School Performance Frameworks reflecting exceptional performance in Math, English Language Arts and Science. Only 178 schools in Colorado received this award in 2017, 10 of them in LPS:

• Arapahoe High School
• Powell Middle School
• Franklin Elementary School
• Highland Elementary School
• Hopkins Elementary School
• Lenski Elementary School
• Littleton Academy Charter School
• Runyon Elementary School
• Sandburg Elementary School
• Wilder Elementary School

2017 Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award
The Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Awards are given to schools that demonstrate exceptional student growth. On the School Performance Framework used by the state to evaluate schools, these schools “exceed” expectations on the indicator related to longitudinal academic growth and meet or exceed expectations on the indicator related to academic growth gaps. In 2017, only 127 schools in Colorado received this award, three of them in LPS:

• Highland Elementary School
• Runyon Elementary School
• Wilder Elementary School

English Language Proficiency Act Excellence Awards
The English Language Proficiency Act (ELPA) Excellence Awards honor districts and schools that achieved the highest growth among English learners in an English Language Proficiency Program and that achieved the highest academic achievement for English learners who transition out of an English Language Proficiency Program. LPS has received this award all four years it has been offered and has again applied for the $20,000 grant that accompanies this award.

Accredited with Distinction
LPS was again awarded the rating of “Accredited with Distinction,” which recognizes districts that have earned 80 percent or more of possible points on the District Performance Frameworks. The District Performance Frameworks measure student performance in academic achievement, academic growth, academic growth gaps and post-secondary and workforce readiness under the state’s accountability system. In 2017, only 30 districts earned this award.

LPS is the only Denver/Boulder metro area district to achieve this accreditation rating this year and the only district in Colorado to have received it all seven times that it has been issued by the CDE. This is a testament to the hard work, dedication and professionalism of all LPS staff, students and parents.

Featured Image: The LPS Board and Superintendent Ewert recently honored several school communities for receiving the highest honors for academic achievement and academic growth as measured by the Colorado Department of Education.