One of the DeLand Weldon School district's schools received a nice honor for their academics.

The DeLand Weldon elementary school received the award "The Bright A + Award" for their test scores. Dr. Gary Brashear, Superintendent of the DeLand Weldon School district says it is a nice achievement for the students as only a handful of downstate Illinois schools were the recipients of the award.

[audio:delandschoolaward1.mp3]A Word From Dr. Brashear[/audio]

Dr. Brashear says the other schools were left off the list most likely because of their Adequate Yearly Progress results. He says like most schools in the state, DeLand Weldon High School is always working to improve to keep up with the ever increasing standard of AYP created by the No Child Left Behind Act.

[audio:delandschoolaward2.mp3]A Word From Dr. Brashear[/audio]

With classroom sizes at DeLand Weldon schools being very small, Dr. Brashear says there sometimes can be a drastic difference in what one grade level is good at opposed to another. He says overall English could be a point of concern for the district.

[audio:delandschoolaward3.mp3]A Word From Dr. Brashear[/audio]

Dr. Brashear says the Jr. High and Elementary schools met and exceeded all the categories of the AYP this year. Brashear says the high scores of the district says a lot about the teachers of the district, the work ethic of the students and about the programs in place at the DeLand Weldon school district.