For the third consecutive year, Glacier View Junior High School has been named a School of Distinction for being among the top 5 percent of schools statewide that has demonstrated sustained improvement in reading and math.

Glacier View Junior High staff will be recognized at the October 21 Puyallup School Board meeting. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Ballou Junior High School, 9916 136th St. E. in Puyallup.

“The award is indicative of exemplary work on behalf of both students and staff at Glacier View Junior High,” said Superintendent Tim Yeomans. “We are equally pleased with continued improvement in all of our schools, including many that have won this award in previous years.”

Of the 99 elementary, junior high, and high schools recognized statewide this year, Glacier View Junior High is one of 16 junior high or middle schools that have earned the honor in more than one year.

The award is based on students scoring at or above the state average in reading and math in grades three through eight on the 2013 Measurement of Student Progress, in reading in grade 10 on the High School Proficiency Exam, and in math end-of-course exams in grades nine and 10.

Schools that met that requirement were then evaluated for academic gains in both subjects over the past five years.

“The award is a tribute to the collaboration and professionalism of the teachers and staff at Glacier View,” said Mark Vetter, who served as Glacier View Junior High principal from the time it opened in 2008 until this past summer when he became a director of instructional leadership in Puyallup. “That collaboration has led to students who care, are motivated, and are learners.”

Vetter will join new Glacier View Junior High Principal Michelle Cruckshank at a statewide School of Distinction recognition ceremony this fall in Renton.

Cruckshank said she is thrilled to be part of an award-winning school.

“I’m honored to have inherited it,” she said. “The staff is delighted, excited, and understands the gravity of the responsibility of such an honor, as well as the continued work ahead.”