Three county school districts rated in top 10

Three Whitman County school districts are ranked in the top 10 in achievement in the state.

LaCrosse School District ranked number two in the state for the second consecutive year, according to Principal Doug Curtis.

Two other Whitman County schools, Colfax, which placed third, and St. John, which placed fourth, were listed in the top 10 in the state. The only other Eastern Washington school district in the top 10 was Wilbur School District.

The LaCrosse district placed second in overall academic achievement in the state out of 295 school districts.

LaCrosse High School was credited with 100 percent of the students passing in reading, writing, algebra and geometry tests. Curtis said 80 percent of the students passed the science exam.

LaCrosse elementary students scored in the top 10 percent for the third consecutive year.

Curtis said the ratings are according to a web site called schooldigger.com, developed for parents who are moving into an area and are looking for good schools. Curtis said he discovered the site just a couple of years ago when a perspective school board member recommended that he look at it.

LaCrosse is rated number one in reading and writing level, the third time in seven years.

Curtis said that being a small school can be advantageous, but when ranked against larger schools, it’s not so good.

“Sometimes it hurts us because we’re so small,” he said. “We need a certain number of students to qualify for the test scores and if we have less than 10 students taking a test, they won’t calculate it.”

“I think this is kind of neat,” Curtis said. “It speaks well for small schools which is a key to students’ success.”

LaCrosse also has won Washington Academic Achievement three years in a row.

“It shows how important it is to keep small schools,” he said.

Curtis also said there is a strong Whitman County Principals Association that meets monthly. The group started three to four years ago and talk about school improvements.

“I think you can say it’s helped,” he said. “We were recognized at the state level for doing this.”

“I really do believe that all county schools working together is making a difference,” he said.

Top 10 School Districts

1. Mercer Island, 4,223 students

2. LaCrosse, 94 students

3. Colfax, 654 students

4. St. John, 169 students

5. Issaquah, 17,355 students

6. Tahoma, 7,529 students

7. San Juan Island, 866 students

8. Lake Washington, 24,673 students

9. Wilbur, 266 students

10. Northshore, 19,745 students