Schools in Roanoke area, New River Valley win state recognition 

Schools in the New River and Roanoke valleys were recognized by the state recently for advanced learning and achievement.

The Virginia Index of Performance awards honor schools and school systems across the commonwealth that have exceeded minimum state and federal accountability standards and met goals established by the governor and the state school board.

The program’s second-tier honor, the Board of Education Excellence Award, was given to 51 schools. The schools met all state and federal accountability benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and made significant progress toward goals set by the state board for increased student achievement and expanded educational opportunities.

Local schools earning the award are Crystal Spring Elementary in Roanoke; Bonsack Elementary, Cave Spring Middle and Oak Grove Elementary in Roanoke County; and Gilbert Linkous Elementary in Montgomery County.

Statewide 98 schools were also named Board of Education Distinguished Achievement award winners. Those schools met all state and federal benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and made progress toward the goals of the governor and the state school board.

Local schools earning the award are Boones Mill Elementary, Burnt Chimney Elementary, Gereau Center for Applied Technology and Career Exploration and Snow Creek Elementary in Franklin County; Auburn Elementary and Harding Avenue Elementary in Montgomery County; Fishburn Park Elementary, Grandin Court Elementary and Wasena Elementary in Roanoke; and Back Creek Elementary, Cave Spring Elementary, Clearbrook Elementary, Fort Lewis Elementary, Glenvar Middle, Green Valley Elementary, Penn Forest Elementary and W.E. Cundiff Elementary in Roanoke County.

In other education news:

• West Salem Elementary School teacher Tarri Gauck has been named the Salem City Schools 2013 Teacher of the Year.

Gauck has been a kindergarten teacher at the school for eight years. She was chosen from the school system’s six nominees. Gauck and the other nominees will be honored by the school board during a reception March 26.

• Hidden Valley Middle School student Bhargav Mallidi has qualified for the Virginia National Geographic Bee. The Roanoke County sixth-grader is eligible to compete in the statewide bee April 5 at Longwood University.

Qualifying students are school-level winners, who also have one of the top 100 scores on a qualifying test.

• The Franklin County High School and Benjamin Franklin Middle School chess teams recently competed at the Virginia State Scholastic Chess Championship Tournament where they placed fourth and 12th respectively.

The two-day tournament was held at Longwood University March 8-10 and included teams from across the state.

The Benjamin Franklin team was represented by Cassidy Anderson, Anker Eisenman, Ben Hancock, Dan Hancock, Jacob Holland, Alec Kincer, Elysia Lin, Bryce Morrison, Nicholas Robinson and Hunter Steph.

The Franklin County team was represented by Dalton Ruggeri, Zachary Anderson, Johnny Hughes, Sonny Williams, Joshua Schuck, Tyler Smith, Chase Cobbs, Andrew Williams and Jesse Franklin.

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