Westonka Home to Two Reward Schools—In Statewide Multiple Measurements Ratings

The Westonka School District is home to two of Minnesota’s highest-performing Title I schools in the release of the state’s Multiple Measurements Ratings (MMR). Shirley Hills Primary School and Grandview Middle School are among the 131 schools that earned Reward status this year.

The MMR is a 0 to 100 percent rating for all schools in the state and includes data on proficiency, growth, achievement gap reduction and graduation rates. In the MMR system, Title I schools can fall into one of five groups: Reward, Celebration Eligible, Continuous Improvement, Focus and Priority.

Reward schools are the top 15 percent of Title I schools based on the results of the MMR. They represent the highest-performing schools on the four domains in the MMR. 

Title I is a federal education program that is designed to provide added academic support to students in schools that have higher than normal poverty rates compared to other schools in a school district. The other schools in the Westonka School District, Mound Westonka High School and Hilltop Primary School, are not designated Title I schools and are not eligible for Reward recognition.

Shirley Hills is one of only 20 three-time Reward schools in the state. According to the Minnesota Department of Education, “The sustained excellence in these multi-year Reward schools is commendable, and their successful practices should be shared with other Minnesota schools.”

Westonka Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Mark Femrite said, “The MMR is another measure of our local school district’s academic performance for our community. The positive ratings again demonstrate our district’s commitment to academic excellence and meeting the needs of all of our students.”