Williams earns recognition

When Williams Elementary School students gathered for their weekly assembly on Monday, they had more than one reason to cheer.

Not only were students recognized for their own achievements, but principal Cyndee Engrahm has been singled out for high honors and the school is up for a prestigious state award.

"We're like the little engine that could," said kindergarten teacher Beth Nall. "We think we can, we think we can, we think we can."

Nall said the school owes its freight train drive to Engrahm, who has been selected Colusa County Administrator of the Year, making her eligible for regional recognition.

"She makes us believe we can do anything," Nall said of Engrahm. "She is always encouraging us to do better. She holds us accountable. That is why we do as well as we do."

And the school has done well, achieving the highest academic test scores in the county, and qualifying for the California Distinguished School honors this year because it met a variety of eligibility criteria, including designated federal and state accountability measures based on No Child Left Behind, Adequate Yearly Progress and Academic Performance Index requirements.

The API - the hallmark of student accountability in the state - is a score on a scale of 200 to 1,000, with 800 set as the statewide target.

"To reach 810 is unbelievable," Engrahm said.

To top it off, Williams Elementary School's high achievement proved schools with a larger than average population of English language learners can reach the same benchmarks in education as predominately Caucasian schools, which, since the API was implemented, have traditionally achieved the highest scores.

Hispanic students, whose English is a second language, makes up about 80 percent of the school. About 85 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged.

Engrahm, however, is humble about her recognition as a top administrator, saying it takes everyone working together to prove to the state that the schools offers exemplary and quality educational programs.

"Our staff works really hard and our parents are so supportive," Engrahm said.

On Monday, Colusa County Superintendent of schools Kay Spurgeon, Assistant Superintendent Ben Flores, and Jan Sheppard of Yuba County paid Williams a site visit to perform a grueling and comprehensive review of the school's academic programs — a requirement for the designation as a distinguished school.

Williams earned the distinguished school honor in 2004. Pierce High School was awarded the honor in 2009, Spurgeon said.

They are the only two Colusa County schools to achieve such recognition in the past decade. The program was established in 1985 and alternates each year between elementary and secondary schools.

The school will learn in April if it is designated — for a second time under Engrahm's leadership — as a California Distinguished School.

"I've been here 25 years," Engrahm said Monday. "There is no place I would rather be. There's not a lot of jobs you can that about."

Contact Susan Meeker at 458-2121 or smeeker@tcnpress.com.