YAKIMA, Wash. -- It’s official.

Yakima’s Nob Hill and Ridgeview elementary schools are “Great Schools.”

Again.

The Center for Educational Effectiveness, along with the Washington Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa International, recently gave both schools their “Great Schools Award.”

Nob Hill and Ridgeview elementaries are among 104 schools statewide being recognized by the two groups for dramatic improvement in reading and math performance.

The 104 schools represent the top 5 percent of elementary, middle and high schools in Washington state whose students have shown outstanding growth in both areas during a five-year period.

To be considered, each school had to meet the current year’s state learning targets for the Washington Assessment of Student Learning in both reading and math. Schools were then evaluated for five-year gains on the state’s “Learning Improvement Index.”

The award used to be known as the “State Superintendent’s Schools of Distinction — Learning Improvement Award.” 

Ridgeview received the award in 2007. And this is the third year in a row that Nob Hill has received this recognition.

All of this year’s “Great Schools” were honored during a luncheon late last month at City University of Seattle’s Renton Campus. 

For more info, visit www.pdkintl.org.

-- Adriana Janovich