Roachdale Elementary is a Four Star school

The Four Star School Award is a prestigious honor for Indiana schools, and for the second time in 17 years, Roachdale Elementary has qualified as one of the winners of the award.

Scott Spencer, principal of Roachdale Elementary, said he is extremely proud of his students and staff for achieving this goal.

"That's been kind of a goal since I started," Spencer said. "I knew we had the potential. I'm extremely proud of them."

The Four Star award's criteria for elementary schools looks at both standardized testing performance and attendance. For grades 3 to 5, students had to score in the top 25th percentile in English and Math ISTEP+ scores individually and combined. Both passing percentages were calculated for each individual student enrolled for 162 days for the individual scores, and the passing scores were combined into one passing percentage for the combined score.

Roachdale Elementary's students were in the top 25th percentile of Indiana schools for both calculations.

Spencer has already informed the students of their feat, which he said made them incredibly proud.

"The kids were pretty excited about it," Spencer said. "They were coming out of the classrooms saying, 'We're famous, we're famous.'"

The school will receive an award from the state for its achievement and will likely receive recognition at the North Putnam School Corporation board meeting on Thursday.

Different schools in the community have already recognized Roachdale's achievements. The school has received flowers from Tzouanakis Intermediate School, Fillmore and Greencastle schools. Roachdale Elementary will also send out newsletters to parents and recognize the achievement on April 1.