The superintendent of the Coupeville School District wasn’t having it when David Ebersole tried to shy away from speaking too much about his elementary school’s honor at a recent school board meeting.

“Don’t let him downplay it,” Jim Shank said afterward. “It’s a neat thing. Our elementary school is considered to be in the top 10 percent (in the state). That’s awesome.”

Coupeville Elementary learned last month that it would be receiving a 2015 Washington Achievement Award, earning special distinction as a “high progress” winner.

Ebersole, the school’s principal, will be going to Yakima May 10 to accept the award in the special category, which recognizes the top 10 percent of schools that have made the most progress in reading and math combined for all students over the previous three years.

Shank and school board member Christie Sears also will be attending.

Coupeville has earned the honor before, but it’s been a couple years, Ebersole said.

“It’s always nice to be recognized and have your staff recognized for their hard work,” said Ebersole, who’s worked in the district for 16 years, serving the past six as elementary school principal. “It starts when kids enter in kindergarten even though they don’t start testing until third grade. It just gives credence to all the work that they do, paying attention to those early indicators that lead kids to be successful.”

The Coupeville school district’s growth in enrollment this school year is reflected at the elementary school, where there are three all-day kindergarten classes.

The elementary school consists of students in kindergarten through fifth grade.