Four Pasadena ISD schools were named to the National Center for Educational Accountability’s “Best Public Schools” list in the December issue of Texas Monthly magazine.

Pearl Hall Elementary, Bondy Intermediate and Southmore Intermediate School made the list for the second consecutive year, while Pasadena Memorial High School received the Texas Monthly honors for the first time this year.

The campuses were recognized as “high performing schools” by the NCEA, which is a research arm of the University of Texas. The Pasadena campuses honored were more than 570 schools in the state that made the list.

“Our principals and teachers are among the most caring and skilled educators in Texas and this honor is a true reflection of that,” Pasadena ISD Superintendent Kirk Lewis said.

In determining which schools comprised the Texas Monthly list, the NCEA analyzed how students fared in the subject areas of reading, writing, math, science and social studies and also took into account the demographic makeup of each student body.

The report highlighted Bondy and Pearl Hall’s consistent gains in writing scores, while Southmore was recognized for its increases in math. Memorial was also praised for its high performance in reading and language arts.

“Every day, our teachers find new ways to challenge and inspire our students and hold high expectations for their individual success,” Lewis said. “It is our goal to actively engage students in their own learning and build positive relationships with them. We want to do everything we can to lead them down the road of success.

The Texas Monthly honors are one of many achievements in Pasadena schools this year. Recently, 66 Pasadena ISD students were recognized by the College Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) with various academic awards during the 2006-2007 school year. In addition, the district boasted five National Merit Commended honorees and one National Merit Semi-Finalist. The district also had eight students named as National Hispanic Scholars.

In August, two schools were named exemplary and 22 schools received recognized ratings and one campus was named exemplary by the Texas Education Agency. The state also gave Gold Performance Acknowledgement awards to 20 schools for their performance in reading and 17 campuses for their gains in math. In addition, 16 campuses were distinguished for writing scores and 11 campuses were acknowledged for gains in attendance.