Symmes Valley Elementary has been recognized as one of 26 Ohio schools for exceptional student performance in the past two years.

“There are currently 2,536 Title 1 schools in Ohio, so being one of 26 puts Symmes Valley Elementary in the top 1% in the state,” said the school’s principal, Brandon Walker, in a letter to the school community. “I could not be prouder of my staff and students.”

Superintendent Greg Bowman said he and Walker were very pleased to get the news when they got the email from the Ohio Department of Education about Exceptional Student Performances and Closing Achievement Gaps for the last two years.

He added they had to read the email a couple of times for the good news to sink in.

“The key thing for us was that we were in the top one percent among the Title 1 schools,” he said. That allowed them to apply for national recognition as well and while they didn’t get that. “Still, to be in the top one percent, especially coming out of COVID, we are just so pleased with the advancements and the progress the elementary has made. They’ve done such a good job persevering.”

Bowman said all the praise should go to the teachers and staff at the school.

“It is nothing we do. They are the ones on the frontlines and they did, and do, a great job for the students,” he said.

He added the school tries not to get too hung up on the testing “but we hate to quantify a student by a test score, but we do know it is important. We are proud of our students, we know we have a good community and a good support system. Again, we are just really pleased with being able to show off, so to speak, what Symmes Valley is able to do.

He added they plan to continue to do greater things in the future.

“We don’t want to stop, we just want to keep going forward,” Bowman said.