Three Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District schools, including Malibu’s Webster Elementary, have been invited to apply for the 2014 California Distinguished School Award.
Webster and Santa Monica’s Franklin and Roosevelt Elementary Schools, number among 405 California schools invited to apply by the California Department of Education.
The award “identifies and honors those schools that have demonstrated educational excellence for all students and progress in narrowing the achievement gap,” according to the Department of Education website.
Schools are invited to apply based on a variety of criteria that includes federal and state accountability measured by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Academic Performance Index (API) requirements.
They have until mid-December to apply for the award, and will then be judged by a team of educators from across the state. Educators will also visit schools to observe “signature practices.”
Honorees will be notified by late March. Selected schools will be honored at a regional award ceremony, where the State Superintendent of Public Instruction will present each school with a 2014 Distinguished School plaque and flag.
A local school has not been recognized since 2010, when Webster, Point Dume and McKinley Elementary Schools were honored.
