Three Denton school district campuses will be recognized during a mid-January awards ceremony for ranking among the state’s high-performing schools, according to the National Center for Educational Achievement.

In the areas of math and writing, Hawk Elementary in Corinth will be recognized for growth and college and career readiness. Navo Middle School, in the district’s eastern region, is being recognized for reading performance growth. Wilson Elementary in northeast Denton is being honored for growth and college and career readiness in science.

The achievement center’s 2009 Just for Kids Campaign for Higher Performing Schools in Texas spotlights state schools for achievement based on two measures. According to letters addressed in December to the Denton campus principals and shared with the Denton Record-Chronicle by Superintendent Ray Braswell, campuses are recognized for growth based on “better improvement rates” in comparison with schools with similar demographics. Schools recognized in the readiness category are measured by the percentage of campus students scoring at or above the center’s college and career readiness targets, which are the top 5 percent of schools in the state, the letter read.

“Not everyone makes this list,” said Shaun Perry, Navo Middle School principal. “It’s an elite list … and we’re going to make a big deal about it, at least on our campus, anyway.”

Receiving the achievement center’s recognition is a first for the school, which opened in Aubrey in 2006, and one Perry calls a great honor. Recognition was earned through an improvement model that encourages students to push beyond their current learning capacity, he said. Teachers work with students individually and in small groups, Perry said, and focus on areas where a student is weak so that they help them become as “successful as possible.”

Like Perry, Audrey Staniszewski, Wilson Elementary principal, said that earning such recognition is a culmination of hard work by students and staff. Teachers make courses interactive for students, she said, which makes learning fun. The Wilson community, which is receiving the achievement center’s Just for Kids recognition for the second time, Staniszewski said, is pleased and “always appreciates pats on the back” for the hard work of both students and staff.

For the second year, Hawk Elementary will be recognized with the state’s higher performing schools award. Principal Susannah O’Bara said her campus made the list once again because of the work teachers have done in coming together to discuss what works for students, as well as weaknesses, and attempting to come up with ideas for student improvement.

“I honestly believe that the success is because of the great work of these teachers,” O’Bara said. “That goes without saying.”

A full listing of Texas schools recognized as the achievement center’s high-performing schools is expected to be released on the center’s Web site later this month to coincide with awards ceremonies in Austin, Houston and Dallas, according to an additional letter addressed to Braswell that he shared with the Record-Chronicle recently. Denton administrators are expected to receive an award on behalf of their campuses Jan. 21 at the Dallas Independent School District Administration Building.

BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com.