Four schools in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District have been named among the 424 public elementary schools to receive the CA Distinguished School honor for 2014.
The schools are Franklin Elementary School, Point Dume Marina Science School, Roosevelt Elementary School, and Webster Elementary School.
SMMUSD Superintendent Sandra Lyon said the District was proud of all of its schools.
“This recognition honors the hard work and dedication of our staff, students, and families,” Lyon said.
Franklin principal Tara Brown said this was Franklin Elementary School’s second California Distinguished School designation. Its first award was in 2008.
“Everyone is absolutely ecstatic,” Brown said. “I don’t think the designation changes the school, but gives validation to our amazing staff, students, parents and community for all of the hard work and effort that is made on a daily basis towards all students achieving academic excellence while narrowing the achievement gap.”
Point Dume principal Rebecca Johnson said its school was thrilled to be recognized again as a California Distinguished School.
“I want to thank the students, staff, and parents,” Johnson said. “It is due to their continued dedication and extraordinary effort that this acknowledgement of PDMSS was made possible.”
Roosevelt principal Natalie Burton the award directly reflected the expertise and collaboration of the school’s exceptional educators and its dedicated Roosevelt families.
“I am so proud that our students have flourished with such enthusiasm through our signature practices in Math and English Language Arts,” Burton said. “This exciting recognition is an honor for our entire Roosevelt community.”
Webster principal Dr. Susan Samarge-Powell said the school was honored to be considered a California Distinguished School for a second time.
“The students, staff and parent community all contribute to the successes found at Webster – it is a wonderful environment in which to learn,” Samarge-Powell said.
