Seattle elementary one of two in Washington state named Blue Ribbon school

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or the first time in 12 years, a Seattle public school has won a national award for academic achievement.

Thurgood Marshall Elementary is one of two schools in Washington state recently named a Blue Ribbon school. The other is Apple Valley Elementary in Yakima.

Katie May, who has been Thurgood Marshall’s principal for a decade, said the school’s heightened focus on early literacy in recent years has been key to its success.

That focus not only makes children better readers, but also helps them in other subjects, May said.

“We’ve seen kids before where they struggle with math, not because they don’t have good number sense, but because math is also really language based,” May said. “And if you can’t read, you just don’t have the confidence for the problem solving.”

And literacy sets students up for long-term success — studies show children who can’t read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to not graduate from high school on time.

Thurgood Marshall is one of 13 schools in the Seattle school district’s Early Literacy Collaborative. It’s focused on improving reading skills at schools with the largest percentages of African American boys, who the district has prioritized in its academic goals because they are “furthest from educational justice.”

Another success May highlighted is the school’s ongoing parent engagement efforts. A couple years ago, Thurgood Marshall started hosting regular parent meetings focused on how they can support their kids from home.

“Parents would say, ‘That was the most useful school event I’ve ever been to,’ because they really are learning how they can help their child at home,” May said. “Of course, reading with your child at home is critical and important. And there’s other things that parents can do, too, but they don’t always know.”

May said this work helps ensure equity for economically disadvantaged students, whose parents may not have the time or bandwidth to research how they can support their kids academically.

Thurgood Marshall is a Title I school, with nearly half of students considered economically disadvantaged by the state.

The U.S Department of Education’s annual National Blue Ribbon Awards honor high-performing schools across the country, as well as those that have made significant progress in closing achievement gaps.