Over the last several weeks, Dr. Herman Sirois, superintendent of schools for Levittown, has presented banners to each of the six elementary schools in the district, in recognition of Levittown being named a "High Performing District," based on the fourth grade state test results.

This distinction, which was bestowed upon Levittown by the New York State Department of Education, is based on the 1999 fourth grade ELA and math results. Sirois said he believes that this honor was given to approximately the top 50 out the 750 districts across the state.

According to Sirois, this recognition is different from the "School of Excellence" distinction in several ways. The first way in which it differs is that whereas to be named a "School of Excellence," the district must apply, the "High Performing District" classification was made by the state education department, without any application by the district. Another difference, according to the superintendent is that "High Performing District" designation is based solely on academics while "Schools of Excellence" are also based on parental committee involvement and things of that sort. Sirois said this is important because the "High Performing District" recognition really rewards the students for the good academic work they have done. The final major difference is that one school within a district can be named a "School of Excellence" but in the "High Performing District" every school in the district is involved.

The district received a citation from the state in recognition of this achievement and individual banners were made up for each of the Levittown elementary schools, which were personally presented to the school by Sirois.

"I think it's nice to have the work the district, the teachers, the students, and the parents are doing recognized," said Sirois. "We've worked very hard to bring our student achievement up to a high level and we're very proud of that and it's just nice that once in a while it's recognized for what it is."