Glacier Park Elementary School in the Tahoma School District and four schools in the Kent School District – Glenridge Elementary, Martin Sortun Elementary, Meridian Elementary and Mountain View Academy – are among the latest to be named Washington State Schools of Distinction.

They’re among 98 schools around the state to formally receive the honor Oct. 22 for exceeding the state average in fourth, seventh or 10th-grade reading and math, as measured by the spring 2008 Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). Schools that met the performance standard were then evaluated for WASL performance over the past six years.

The top 5 percent of schools were honored.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson said the award “celebrates gains that aren’t recognized by the federal No Child Left Behind law or its Adequate Yearly Progress calculations.”

Meridian principal Stan Jaskot said the award was a “nice recognition of all the hard work” and the result of a “collaborative effort.” He said the fourth-grade teachers “led the charge.”

Statewide, 53 elementary schools, 21 middle schools, 20 high schools and seven alternative schools were named Schools of Distinction. There are more than 2,500 public schools in Washington.