Cashmere School District earns new statewide excellence award

CASHMERE — In a state with nearly 300 school districts and more than a million students, Cashmere School District stands among a small group at the very top.

The district has been named one of just 25 in Washington to receive the inaugural State Superintendent’s Award for Educational Excellence, a new statewide honor recognizing top performance in student achievement.

For a district serving just under 1,700 students, the distinction places Cashmere in roughly the top 8 percent of districts statewide. It reflects both strong academic outcomes and sustained progress across key measures of student success.

The recognition carries added weight as the first of its kind.

The award was created by the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction after the federal government ended the longstanding Blue Ribbon Schools Program, shifting recognition of school performance to the state level. Washington’s new model evaluates districts across a broader set of indicators tied to long-term student success.

Those measures include attendance, kindergarten readiness, access to advanced coursework and dual credit opportunities, ninth-grade readiness and graduation rates.

Cashmere was recognized specifically for excellence in academic achievement.

To compare districts of vastly different sizes and demographics, OSPI standardized each of those measures and ranked districts statewide, selecting the top performers based on combined scores.

The result places Cashmere alongside some of the highest-performing districts in Washington, a notable distinction for a small, rural district.

Locally, the recognition reflects years of steady work by educators, students, families and the broader community.

“The credit needs to go to our staff, all staff, who truly are dedicated to providing the very best education possible for each and every kid,” said Superintendent Glenn Johnson.

Johnson also pointed to the role of the community and school board in supporting that work.

“Special recognition also needs to go to our community for their unyielding support of our schools, and to our school board for consistently supporting the vision and providing key leadership and resources,” he said.

State Sen. Keith Goehner and Reps. Mike Steele and Brian Burnett, who represent the 12th Legislative District, also recognized the district’s achievement in a joint letter to school leadership, calling it a reflection of “a strong and sustained commitment to student success” and crediting the combined efforts of educators, families and students.

For Johnson, the recognition is meaningful, but not a finish line.

“We have a lot to continue to work on, but it feels good to know that we are heading in the right direction,” he said.

As the first group of districts recognized under the state’s new system, Cashmere’s selection marks both an achievement and a starting point, a signal that the work happening in its classrooms is being measured, seen and recognized across Washington.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media