MARYSVILLE — The Bio-Med Academy on the Marysville Getchell High School Campus has been named a 2013 “School of Distinction.”

The School of Distinction honors — awarded through a joint effort of the Washington Association of School Administrators, the Washington State School Directors Association, the Center for Educational Effectiveness, the Association of Washington School Principals and the Association of Educational Service Districts — are reserved for schools in the top five percent of schools in the state of Washington, which have increased their reading and math achievements.

The Bio-Med Academy is one of 23 high schools in the state to receive this award.

“We are very, very proud of the Bio-Med Academy staff and students,” Marysville School District Superintendent Dr. Becky Berg said. “To be one school out of 23 in the state is monumental, and the award a fitting tribute for their hard work to increase student achievement.”

“These schools are from all regions of the state, and all sizes of towns,” CEE President Greg Lobdell said. “With enrollment of English Language Learners as high as 49 percent, these schools demonstrate that significant improvement is occurring all across our diverse public schools.”

The School of Distinction awards were created in 2007 to recognize the highest improving schools in Washington State. The awards are not intended as a replacement for state and federal accountability measures of school performance, but rather as a supplemental measure to recognize and celebrate school staff, students and leadership who improve the performance of all students over a sustained period of time.