State Superintendent’s Award for Educational Excellence
Contact
Matthew Frizzell
Assistant Superintendent of System & School Improvement
564-669-1359
The State Superintendent’s Award for Educational Excellence (SSAEE) is presented by State Superintendent Chris Reykdal to the 25 top-performing school districts in educational achievement in the previous school year and the 25 top-performing school districts in progress and improvement in educational achievement over the last three school years. The award expands on traditional measures of success and includes 11 measures that focus on educational opportunities and academic success. The SSAEE is aligned with the state’s Annual Snapshot on Student Opportunity and Outcomes.
The SSAEE was created by OSPI in 2026 after the U.S. Department of Education canceled the Blue Ribbon Schools Award program, which recognized schools across the country for educational progress and achievement.
2026 Winning School Districts
Awardees for Academic Progress
- Hood Canal School District
- Columbia (Stevens) School District
- Pateros School District
- College Place School District
- Adna School District
- Steilacoom Hist. School District
- Onalaska School District
- Wahkiakum School District
- Riverside School District
- Sedro-Woolley School District
- Lind School District
- Inchelium School District
- White River School District
- Cle Elum-Roslyn School District
- Chimacum School District
- Toledo School District
- Rainier School District
- Mount Adams School District
- Finley School District
- Nine Mile Falls School District
- Carbonado School District
- Sultan School District
- Kiona-Benton City School District
- Ritzville School District
- Raymond School District
Awardees for Academic Achievement
- Mercer Island School District
- Northshore School District
- Bellevue School District
- Dieringer School District
- Bainbridge Island School District
- Lake Washington School District
- Carbonado School District
- Griffin School District
- Adna School District
- Issaquah School District
- Snoqualmie Valley School District
- Shoreline School District
- Camas School District
- Tahoma School District
- Cashmere School District
- White River School District
- University Place School District
- Steilacoom Hist. School District
- Liberty School District
- Freeman School District
- Peninsula School District
- Anacortes School District
- Oakesdale School District
- Conway School District
- Sumner-Bonney Lake School District
Award Selection Methodology
OSPI uses key measures of student opportunity and outcomes to award the SSAEE.
Student Opportunity Measures
- Regular Attendance
- Kindergarten Readiness
- Highly Capable Program Participation
- High School Level Math in 8th Grade
- Dual Credit Participation
- Including Career and Technical Education (CTE)
- Excluding CTE
Student Outcome Measures
- 4th Grade Reading
- 8th Grade Reading
- 8th Grade Math
- Ninth Graders on Track
- 4-Year Graduation Rate
To identify the awardees, OSPI converts all the measures to the same scale so they can be compared. The agency then averages the combined scores and identifies school districts that have the highest positive value. Those districts received the SSAEE for educational achievement in the last year or progress in educational achievement over three years.