Four Federal Way schools are among a total of 401 schools that earned Washington Achievement Awards for 2014.

Award-winning schools were notified last week via email by state Superintendent Randy Dorn and State Board of Education chair Isabel Muñoz-Colón.

The Washington Achievement Award recipients are the highest performing schools in the state based on three years of academic information as reported in the Washington Achievement Index. The index was approved for use in 2014 by the State Board of Education.

“Honoring successful schools is one of the most important things we do,” Dorn said. “We know schools are doing great work and are getting better at serving all students every day. We may not be where we want to be, but we are making progress. These awards celebrate both achievement and growth.”

Schools were recognized for being top performers in six categories, including overall excellence, high progress, reading growth, math growth, extended graduation rate (only awarded to high and comprehensives schools) and English language acquisition.

In the Federal Way school district, Decatur High School was recognized for high progress. Three other Federal Way schools were recognized for English language acquisition, including Mirror Lake Elementary, Nautilus K-8 School and Olympic View Elementary.

“The Achievement Awards are an opportunity to acknowledge the school communities who have made the greatest difference in the lives of Washington students,” Muñoz-Colón said. “The state board hopes to use this opportunity to share schools’ results and their stories so that we can replicate their great work in other areas of the state.”

The award-winning schools will be honored during an award ceremony on April 28 at Spanaway Lake High School in Bethel School District, itself an award winner for “high progress.”

This is the sixth year of the Washington Achievement Awards.