Culver City Observer -

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announces that Linwood E. Howe Elementary School is among 106 California schools selected for the 2013-14 Title I Academic Achievement Award.

"I am proud of what these schools have accomplished under often challenging circumstances," Torlakson said. "Their administrators and teachers are committed to giving their students every opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills that will help them in school and throughout their lives."

The Title I Academic Achievement Award is given to schools receiving federal Title I funds as authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Title I, the single largest federal educational program for K-12 public education, assists schools in meeting the educational needs of students living at or below the poverty line. Of the approximately 10,000 schools in California, more than 6,000 of them participate in the Title I program.

"This award is a testament to the hard work of our entire Linwood Viking Team - our teachers, our administrators, our students and their parents who all work cooperatively to ensure every child succeeds," said Superintendent Dave LaRose. "Success for All Takes us all, is clearly more than a simple slogan at Linwood – where the entire community rallies around the needs, goals and dreams of the whole child. They have created a vision and enlisted partners to ensure all students are safe, healthy, connected, cared for, challenged and hopeful!"

To receive this distinction, the school must demonstrate that all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California's academic content standards. Additionally, the school's socioeconomically disadvantaged students must have doubled the achievement targets set for them for two consecutive years.

The National Title I Association also presents each year two National Title I Distinguished School Awards per state. The awards are given to one Academic Achievement Award-winning school that has demonstrated exceptional student performance for two or more consecutive years and to one that made the most progress in closing the achievement gap between student groups.

The 106 awardees will be honored at a special award ceremony to be held in conjunction with the annual California Title I Conference later this year.