The department awards up to 420 schools each year in one of two categories: Exemplary High-Performing School or Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing School.
Cross Plains Elementary School started the 2021 school year as a D-rated school. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath nominated the school after it raised grades significantly by the end of that fall semester.
Cross Plains Superintendent Dade Cosby credits principal Jeanette Barron for the turn-around, “That was right after COVID. And we didn’t want COVID to be an excuse. My principal understood that and she was able to get that message out to students and staff. She has a way of, what we call it instructional rounds where students get to rotate to fill the learning need that they have. We specialize for about 30 minutes a day, but it’s just a way we make it work.”
Cosby says Cross Plains will join 352 other recipients in Washington DC for a Blue Ribbon School celebration in October.