Franklin Elementary School recognized as Calfornia Distinguished School

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond made the announcement that Franklin Elementary School achieved the 2020 California Distinguished Schools Award Program on Wednesday.

Franklin is one of 323 elementary schools across the state to be honored.

The California Distinguished Schools Award Program recognizes outstanding education programs and practices. They award schools for closing the achievement gap and for achieving exceptional student performance.

Principal Casie Killgore, who has worked at Franklin for 11 years, oversaw this accomplishment.

According to the press release, from day one, Principal Killgore has set a goal and made it known to all that Franklin was headed for the top state accolade.

Kilgore gave the following statement:

“I am so lucky and blessed to be part of an amazing team of stakeholders who continue to work hard to make Franklin the success it is. We are like a large family who are dedicated to making our school better than the day before. As our expectations have risen, all schools stakeholders have stepped up and made Franklin the best kept secret of a quality, all-around education in Santa Barbara.”

Principal Casie Killgore

Killgore said that Franklin was applauded for key areas in:

• differentiation in instruction in small groups
• consistent instruction across grade levels
• interventions for students who need extra support or extra challenges

There were four other schools in Santa Barbara County that also received the award:

• Aliso School in Carpinteria
• Kellogg School in Goleta
• Santa Ynez Elementary
• Solvang Elementary

The 2020 California School Recognition Program Award Ceremony will take place on Monday, February 10, 2020 at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.

For more information about this prestigious award click here.