Published: October 01, 2009 11:17 pm      

Sycamore named Distinguished School

Elementary school receives $25,000 runner-up award.

Kokomo’s Sycamore Elementary School will receive $25,000 because the Indiana Department of Education declared it a Title 1 Distinguished School, the department announced Thursday.

The department chose Sycamore Elementary as one of two runners-up for the award out of 67 eligible candidates in Indiana.

“We have a really good program here,” Suzy Smith, a Title I teacher at Sycamore Elementary, said Thursday afternoon. “ ... I think probably our biggest thing is that our teachers are very well trained. We’re a very cohesive staff, and everybody works together for the good of the kids.”

The school tied with Hailmann Elementary School in LaPorte. Lincoln Elementary School in Warsaw won the top award of $50,000.

In order for schools to be eligible, they must have poverty rates of at least 40 percent, meet or exceed adequate yearly progress standards for two or more years and receive a nomination from Indiana’s Title I office.

Lauren Auld, press secretary for the IDOE, could not offer specifics about why the department selected Sycamore, but the selection process was the same as with the other winners.

The Title I staff examines applicants’ standardized test scores and other data to determine the “upper echelon” of the schools, Auld said. Once the department narrows down its selections, it conducts rounds of phone interviews with the schools’ administrators. From there, the Title I staff visited the schools for inspections.

Smith said the school had “ball park” plans to put the money toward professional development, purchasing developmental books and supplies and providing extra learning opportunities for students.

The IDOE needs to approve how the schools spend the award money, Auld said, but they have more flexibility than with grants.

“Because it is obviously an award, it’s a little less stringent,” she said.

The IDOE plans to announce today another list of five schools, which were undisclosed Thursday, that will receive awards for closing achievement gaps, Auld said. The department will give $50,000 to the top school, and $25,000 to four runners-up, she said.

• Daniel Human is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He can be reached at (765) 454-8570 or at daniel.human@kokomotribune.com.