Students at Rosspoint Elementary School were honored for having the highest elementary school test scores in the county with a celebration Monday in the school’s gymnasium.

Rosspoint Elementary School Principal Bryan Howard said he is happy with the effort put forth by the students and staff of the school.

“I’m extremely proud. I’m pleased with all of the students and staff. We have worked really hard,” Howard said. “A few years back we were in the middle of the pack, and we have spent a lot of time addressing the areas and concerns that we had. Everyone has put a lot of time into this. We have slowly but surely been increasing and that is the name of the game.”

Debbie Napier, an eighth-grade social studies and reading teacher at the school, was also appreciative of the hard work put in by her students.

“I’m extremely proud of my students. I challenged them at the beginning of the year and they rose to the occasion, and I couldn’t be more proud,” Napier said. “Rosspoint is very competitive. Whether it is in the classroom, on the ball court or whatever, they like to be in top, and our staff works to give them that chance.”

During the program, students were awarded with certificates for proficient test scores in various subjects and medals for distinguished scores.

Howard said the high test scores are made possible because of the hard work and dedication of the Rosspoint staff.

“The teachers here are self-motivated. They are always looking to see where they can do better. Even with where we are at right now, I have already had teachers come up to me with areas that we can improve on this year. That’s what you want. You want to be self-motivated and always look to get better,” he said. “We have already broke our scores down and analyzed our weaknesses and we are going to try our best to score even higher this year.”

Howard later announced to those in attendance that over 90 percent of the students who were tested scored a proficient or distinguished in at least one subject.

Napier said a cohesive effort has helped to improve test scores at the school.

“We have really organized the last couple of years to try to find a niche for everybody, the subjects they love and are comfortable with,” Napier said. “Mr. Howard makes a big effort to try and get us any kind of outside opportunities for development and growth. He is very supportive and eager to hear anything you suggest.”

She added the school is already looking for ways to improve this year’s scores.

“We start working from day one. The day we started school we started focusing for this year. We are always looking to improve,” Napier said.