POPLAR BLUFF, MO (KDKZ-TV) Lake Road Elementary, in Poplar Bluff, has been named a Missouri Gold Star School among only eight statewide for performing at a high academic level while serving a significant proportion of disadvantaged students, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced.

Criteria for the prestigious honor includes scoring in the top 15 percentile of all schools in the state in the reading and mathematics portion of the Missouri Assessment Program test. In 2017, Lake Road students achieved a 100 percent in English language arts and 74 percent in math. In addition, the high school graduation rate has to be in the top 15 percent. Last year Poplar Bluff High School graduated 91.8 percent of the cohort.

Recipients of the state Gold Star award, established in 1991, are nominated for the national Blue Ribbon Schools program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. The national Blue Ribbon award, slated to be announced this fall, is considered the highest honor a school can achieve.