School Recognition Resources

What is the Recognition Program?

Each year, this program highlights schools that demonstrate exceptional progress in key areas of student success. All state public and charter schools are eligible for the honor. 

The program is jointly operated by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), State Board of Education (SBE), and Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee (EOGOAC). 

There are three routes for schools to be honored by the Washington School Recognition Program. A school can earn recognition for multiple categories each year. 

• Closing Gaps: Recognized for significant progress in areas needing improvement, such as assessment scores, English learner progress, or graduation rates. 

• Growth: Schools with at least one student group making some of the state’s largest annual gains in performance measures like attendance, assessments, or graduation rates.

• Achievement: These schools have the state's highest performance in at least two key areas, including attendance, dual credit completion, assessment scores in English language arts or math, graduation rates, or ninth-grade credit attainment, and are above average across all reportable student groups on the 2025 Washington School Improvement Framework. 

Who Was Recognized This Year?

This year, 379 schools received recognition. Of those schools, 150 schools received recognition for three years in a row.

Award Category​	Schools​	Districts​
Closing Gaps​	41	14
Closing Gaps + Achievement​	1	1
Closing Gaps + Growth	21	25
Closing Gaps + Achievement + Growth​	0	8
Growth​	235	72
Growth + Achievement​	20	22
Achievement​	61	8
Total ​	379	150

Information About Recognition Banners

Every recognized school will receive a waterproof vinyl banner. The State Board of Education has partnered with educational service districts across the state to facilitate the delivery of banners to school districts during designated meetings (click here to view a list of meeting dates).

More information about banner delivery is included in the list of frequently asked questions below. If you have a question not covered in the list, please email SBE Communications Manager, Colton Kaltenfeldt.

School Principals: Please contact your district's leadership with any questions regarding banner delivery. The State Board of Education is unable to track the location of banners after they have been delivered to education service districts. Superintendents are responsible for facilitating the distribution of banners to schools in their district after they've been collected from ESDs.

Banner Delivery FAQs 

1. What do this year's banners look like and what are they made out of?

Banners measure 36" tall and 72" wide and are made of a waterproof vinyl banner that can be hung with grommets at each corner.

2. How will my school or district receive their banner?

The Board has partnered with educational service districts (ESDs) across the state to facilitate the delivery of banners to individual schools and districts. Banners will be shipped to local ESDs. Typically, banners will be available for pickup during each ESD's regularly-scheduled regional gathering of superintendents. More information about delivery dates are included in the table below.

If you'd like to pickup your banners prior to the dates listed in the table below please reach out to your educational service district for more information.

ESD	Event Date & Time
Northeast Educational Service District 101	Thursday, May 21
Educational Service District 105	Thursday, May 21
Educational Service District 112	Friday, May 15
Capital Region ESD 113	Banners can be picked up at Capital Region ESD113's office at: 6005 Tyee Dr SW, Tumwater, WA 98512
Olympic Educational Service District 114	Friday, May 29
Puget Sound Educational Service District 121	Friday, May 15
Educational Service District 123	Thursday, June 18
North Central Educational Service District 171	Thursday, June 18
Northwest Educational Service District 189	Friday May 8

3. My school has not received a banner yet. What should I do? 

1. Review the list of scheduled banner delivery dates and see if the delivery date for your ESD has passed.
   • If your ESD's delivery date HAS NOT happened yet: Reach out to your district's administrative office to confirm they plan to send a representative to pickup your banner.
   • If you ESD's delivery date HAS passed: Reach out to your district's administrative office to see if your banner is available for pickup. If they do not have your banner, ask them to reach out to your local educational service district's office. The State Board of Education is unable to track the location of banners after they have been delivered to ESDs. 

4. My district is unable to pickup banners during the designated meeting time. How can I get my school's banner? 

Each school district is responsible for facilitating banner pickups with their local educational service district. If you are/were unable to pickup your banner during the designated meeting, please reach out to your educational service district for more information about picking up banners at a later date.

5. My banner has been lost or damaged. Can I get a replacement?

The State Board of Education has a limited number of banners available for replacements. If your school needs a replacement banner, please email SBE Communications Manager, Colton Kaltenfeldt. Before you reach out, please confirm that your banner is not in your district office awaiting pickup. We've found that in most cases where a school has not yet received their banner, it is in the district office awaiting pickup. 

6. My school was recognized for multiple awards. Do I get multiple banners?

Each school will only receive one banner per recognition cycle, regardless of how many awards they might've been recognized for.