Over the past several years, staff and teachers at Coupeville Elementary School have been working with students to succeed in standardized tests.

Their efforts were recognized during last week’s school board meeting. Jerry Jenkins, superintendent of Educational Service District 189, was on hand to recognize Coupeville Elementary School as a “School of Distinction.”

Jenkins said Coupeville Elementary School was recognized because it has met Adequate Yearly Progress standards the past five years and its math and reading scores have improved to the point where they are in the top 5 percent of schools in the state.

According to information from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 84.4 percent of third-graders, 80.8 percent of fourth-graders and 76.8 percent of fifth-graders passed the reading assessment of the Measurement of Student Progress in the 2010-2011 school year.

In math, 64.1 percent of third-graders, 60.3 percent of fourth-graders and 68.1 percent of fifth-graders passed the assessment.

“It comes about through a lot of hard work,” Jenkins said of the recognition. He commended the staff’s openness to examine their practices, community support and the improvement of instruction as factors leading to the elementary school’s sustained high scores in the math and reading assessments.

Coupeville Elementary School was one of 99 schools in the state to receive the honor. Of those schools, 21 fall within the boundaries of the Northwest Educational Service District 189, which serves school districts in Island, Skagit, Snohomish, Whatcom and San Juan counties.