Six Marin County schools were announced as California Distinguished Schools for 2010. The schools are:

• Old Mill School in Mill Valley
• Bacich Elementary School in Kentfield
• Bel Aire and Reed Elementary School in Tiburon
• West Marin-Inverness School in West Marin
• Willow Creek Academy in the Sausalito Marin City School District.

They were among  484 of the state’s 5,764 elementary schools to receive the award.

This bodes well for Sausalito, as the city has suffered for years with underperforming schools and parents who were unwilling to send their children there. In past years families either sent their kids to private school or moved north to other communities with better schools.

Willow Creek Academy was established eight years ago as a charter school, and under the direction of Principal Carol Cooper and the staff, parents and students have worked against perceptions and preconceptions to achive this distinction.

Marin County has received 89 Distinguished School awards since the program began in 1986; 2010 marks the second consecutive year the county has received a record total of six distinctions.

Go to the California Department of Education website to see a list of all the 2010 Distinguished Schools.