Walnut Trail, others, cited for academic excellence

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Updated: March 27, 2012 8:07AM

SHOREWOOD — Walnut Trail Elementary School, part of the Minooka Grade School District, is one of seven area elementary schools to earn the Academic Excellence Award from the state of Illinois.

Other local schools that earned the award were Channahon Junior High and Three Rivers schools, Coal City elementary, middle and intermediate schools, and Nettle Creek in Morris.

In order to achieve the award, the school must sustain high performance for at least three consecutive years, Principal Kathleen Chesharek said.

That means 90 percent of students on the elementary level must meet or exceed state standards in reading and math for those three years and the school must meet AYP (adequate yearly progress) for at least two years.

Each year the AYP rate increases.

“Every time the standard is raised, what you need to achieve AYP (increases),” said Chesharek.

The Illinois State Board of Education teams up with Northern Illinois University to recognize schools that make the Illinois Honor Roll.

Three different awards are given; Illinois Spotlight School Award, Academic Improvement Award and the Academic Excellence Award.

A total of 438 Illinois schools earned the Academic Excellence Award. This is the second year in a row that Walnut Trails earned it.

“It’s wonderful,” Chesharek said. “It’s an honor.”

While Walnut Trails is the only one of seven schools in the district to win the award, student achievement has been increasing districtwide, Chesharek said.

“All of our scores have improved tremendously over the past five years as a district,” she said.

Walnut Trails has 500 students in kindergarten through fourth grades.