Achievement Success
Measure

Description

Source

Featured Schools

District receives award for its Tobacco Free policy

The Wichita Public Schools received an award from Sedgwick County for National Public Health Thank You Day.

WPS Express Employee
Newsletter 12/3/07

WPS

Three Schools Receive Challenge Awards

Three schools have received Certificates of Merit as part of the sixth-annual Challenge Awards from the Confidence in Public Education Task Force. The award recognizes schools for outstanding achievement and accomplishment in reading and/or mathematics based on 2007 state assessment results, despite facing significant challenges in school population.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 10/29/07

Colvin, Park, Horace Mann Elementary

Standard of Excellence Schools Recognized

Thirty-one schools were recognized by the Board of Education on Oct. 22 for receiving the Standard of Excellence, the state’s highest honor from the Kansas Department of Education.  The honor is based on the percentage of students who score exemplary on the state assessments in reading, math and writing.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 10/29/07,

KSDE

Buckner Named a Blue Ribbon School

Buckner Performing Arts Magnet Elementary School has been named a 2007 No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon School from the U.S. Department of Education. The No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon Schools award, one of the most prestigious education awards in the country, distinguishes and honors schools for helping students achieve at very high levels and for making significant progress in closing the achievement gap.
The NCLB Blue Ribbon program requires schools to meet either or both of two assessment criteria. It recognizes schools that have at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that dramatically improve student performance in accordance with state assessments.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 10/8/07,

KSBE

Buckner Performing Arts Magnet Elementary School

Transition to Teaching Used in National Initiative

The Wichita Public Schools’ and WSU’s Transition to Teaching partnership is being used as a national model. Wichita and WSU have been invited to participate in a national Department of Education project with Ohio State University to create a model Transition to Teaching program. Wichita and WSU’s Transition to Teaching program has been identified as one of the best in the nation and Ohio State representatives came to Wichita to learn more about it.
The Transition to Teaching program is focused on hard-to-fill positions like math, science and language arts.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 9/24/07,

WSU,

ed.gov

WPS & WSU

Student Achievement is on the Rise

The number of schools in Wichita achieving AYP is up from 2006. The Kansas State Department of Education released its list of schools that met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in reading and math on the 2007 state assessments. Of that list, 47 Wichita schools achieved AYP, an increase of three more schools than in 2006, despite the significantly increased targets.
On the district level, Wichita met 36 of 42 AYP subgroup targets, narrowed the achievement gap between Caucasian and African-American students and exceeded the state’s graduation target. The district met AYP for all students in reading and math, along with goals in participation, attendance and graduation.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 9/17/07

USD 259

Fourteen Students Named National Merit Semi-Finalists

The National Merit Scholarship competition has named fourteen semi-finalists in the Wichita Public Schools. This year, all fourteen students attend East High School.
Students become National Merit semi-finalists by taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) during their junior year and scoring in the top one-half of 1 percent in the state.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 9/17/07

East High

East included in top 1,200 high schools

East High School has been included in the top 1,200 public high schools, according to Newsweek magazine. East is ranked 527 and is one of only 5 schools in Kansas on the 2007 list.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 5/29/07,

Newsweek

East High

Students earn College Merit Scholarships

Two students have received College-Sponsored Merit Scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Jeffery Bell and Leanna Dollmann from East High School received the scholarships. Bell received the National Merit W. Harold Otto Scholarship from the University of Kansas. Dollmann received the National Merit University of Oklahoma Scholarship.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 5/29/07

East High

Lawrence recognized for its use of reading program

Lawrence Elementary and its successful reading program was recognized in the May issue of Extraordinary Educators. Lawrence has been successful using the Accelerated Reader program.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 5/14/07

Lawrence Elementary

East’s Latino Club awards Multicultural Scholarships

Seven students at East High School were presented Multicultural Education Scholarships from the school’s Latino Club. Vishal Patel and Phung Vuong received $500 scholarships and Maggie Diaz Velasco, Mario Flores, Maika C. Johnson, Christian Loewen, and Roman Raymundo each received a $400 scholarship.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 5/7/07

East High

Students receive Merit Scholarships

Three students have received National Merit $2,500 Scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Brian Kilgour and Nina Sudarsan, East High School, and Conner Shine, Northwest High School, received the scholarships. Kilgour’s scholarship was underwritten by Textron Charitable Trust.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 5/7/07

East High
Northwest High

Students receive Gates and Dell scholarships

Seven high school students have received thousands of dollars to further their education from the Gates Millennium and Dell Scholars Programs.
Yasmin Henderson, Northeast Magnet High School, and Brian Fairchild, North High School, are the recipients of the Gates Millennium Scholarship.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 4/30/07,

Gates,

Dell

Northeast Magnet
North High

JROTC cadets receive scholarships

Six JROTC cadets were offered scholarships from the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) and one received a scholarship from the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Each scholarship is worth $500.
The students who were awarded scholarships from the Military Officers Association of America are Cameron Shike, East; Bryan Johnson, North; Melissa Patrick, Northeast Magnet; Cory Denton, Marcus Hampton, Northwest; Danny Smith, West. Jasmyn Tutt, Southeast, received the scholarship from the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 4/30/07

East High
North High
Northeast Magnet
Northwest High
West High
Southeast High

Three receive National Achievement Scholarships

Three high school seniors are the recipients of National Achievement Scholarships. Lateece Griffin, West High School; Kennedy Turner, Heights High School and Jade Clark, East High School, each received a scholarship worth $2,500. Griffin and Clark plan to study medicine and Turner plans to study law.

WPS Express Employee Newsletter 4/9/07,

nationalmerit

West High
Heights High
East High

Wichita's Reading First efforts recognized

The Kansas Department of Education has recognized the efforts of Wichita schools involved in the Reading First grant. According to KSDE, the Wichita Public Schools is the only district in Kansas that has made positive increases for two years.

WPS Express Employee
Newsletter 2/5/07,

kansasreadingfirst

Northeast student's wheelchair racing gives him full-ride

Jordan Bird, senior at Northeast Magnet, has received a $40,000 scholarship to the University of Arizona for his athletic accomplishments. Bird signed his letter of intent on January 5 to compete on the school's track team for students in wheelchairs. Bird is ranked number one in the U.S. in track. He competed in the national competition in Atlanta last July and placed first in the 100-, 400-, 800-meter and one-mile races. His performance caught the attention of the University of Arizona and other universities.

WPS Express Employee
Newsletter 1/29/07

Northeast Magnet

Students receive WSU engineering scholarships

Wichita State University has offered several engineering scholarships to high school students. Benjamin Knoblauch, senior at East High School, has received the largest scholarship, the Robert and Sharon Bailey Scholarship. The scholarship pays tuition, fees and books for up to five years.

WPS Express Employee
Newsletter 1/22/07

East High

North High School's AVID program named in top 10

North High School's AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program has received more accolades. The program was named one of the Top 10 AVID programs, out of 2,700 sites, in the U.S. and other countries. The Top 10 honor was based on four commendations: ten-percent of the student population is involved in AVID; AVID elective teachers are paired with students throughout their high school career, which has kept retention rates at the senior level very high; support from school and district administration, as well as community partners like Raytheon and Cargill; and all of North's staff is trained with AVID teaching strategies.

WPS Express Employee
Newsletter 1/8/07

North High

East student wins WSU’s McGregor Scholarship

Drew Tedlock, senior at East High School, was awarded the Lenore N. McGregor Scholarship from Wichita State University. The McGregor Scholarship is awarded for outstanding academic merit. Tedlock will receive $42,000 from WSU. Tedlock was also a finalist for WSU’s Gore and Barton scholarships.

WPS Express Employee
Newsletter 12/18/06

East High

Northeast student receives Gore Scholarship, 12/7/2007

Rami Zayed, senior at Northeast Magnet High School, is the recipient of the Harry Gore Memorial Scholarship from Wichita State University. The scholarship is given to students who show outstanding potential for leadership and recogn