The Mehlville School District has been awarded the prestigious Distinction in Performance commendation by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

This award, which is based on the district’s Annual Performance Report, honors Mehlville for its achievements during the 2010-2011 school year. Mehlville has earned the Distinction in Performance honor in eight of the past 10 years, according to a district news release.

“To qualify for Distinction in Performance, a school district must be achieving at a high level and continuously making progress at all grade levels,” Superintendent Eric Knost stated in the release. “I am proud of the strides our students and staff continue to make on a daily basis. As a district, we have worked hard to achieve the Distinction in Performance recognition and I am confident we will continue to earn this award in the future.

The Distinction in Performance honor recognizes school districts based on their success in 14 academic performance standards that serve as the foundation for the state’s accreditation program for all districts.

The standards are based on scores from the state-mandated Missouri Assessment Program tests, graduation rates, attendance rates, ACT scores and other indicators. The Mehlville School District continues to meet all 14 standards.

Under the state’s accreditation program, every school district in Missouri is evaluated at least once every five years. This accreditation program is based on the same standards as the Distinction in Performance commendation, giving school districts achieving Distinction in Performance an annual confirmation of their status besides state-level recognition of their overall performance.

For additional information about DESE’s Annual Performance Report and its Distinction in Performance recognition, visit

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