Diocesan Catholic schools earn Standard of Excellence awards

The teachers, staff and students of the diocese’s Catholic schools can stand up and take a collective bow. Nearly all Catholic schools in the diocese have been awarded the Standard of Excellence on state assessment tests provided by the Kansas Board of Education.

Schools that received the award include the following:

• Holy Family School in Great Bend for fourth grade mathematics

• St. Nicholas School in Kinsley for eighth grade writing and eighth grade reading

• St. Mary School in Garden City for fourth grade mathematics

• St. Joseph School in Ellinwood for seventh grade mathematics

• Sacred Heart School in Pratt for fifth grade writing and fifth grade reading

• Sacred Heart School in Ness City for eighth grade writing and eighth grade reading.

The award is part of the federal No Child Left Behind program mandated by President Bush. Each year, students are tested in various areas to determine if their school is meeting federal education guidelines. Because the Catholic schools are accredited, they must take part in the assessments.

"I’m extremely excited and proud because we worked so hard," said Ann Depperschmidt, superintendent of Catholic Schools and principal of Sacred Heart School in Ness City. "It’s rewarding to get recognition for all the work the teachers and kids have done."

Receiving a Standard of Excellence award is not easy. According to Depperschmidt, schools must have a "huge percentage of students" that score at exemplary levels.

Recent testing has only included certain grades and certain subjects. Last year, for instance, only the fourth and seventh graders were tested in math, while the fifth and eighth graders were tested in reading and writing. Starting next year, all students from third grade and up will be tested in reading and math. Other subjects on which students are tested include science and social studies.

According to statewide statistics, approximately one in five children reach the exemplary level in reading and writing. In Math, the number grew from approximately 20 percent of students reaching exemplary levels in 2003, to about 25 percent in 2004. In science and social studies, approximately one in six students reach the exemplary level in the state assessment. For more information on how Kansas schools fared in the state assessment, go to online.ksde.org/rcard/index.aspx.