Good news continues to roll in for Dowagiac Union Schools, as the district’s schools enjoyed favorable placement on yet another set of recent statewide rankings.

Deputy Superintendent Dawn Connor presented the results of Bridge Magazine’s 2014 Academic State Champ rankings to the members of the Dowagiac Union Schools Board of Education Monday. The magazine, published by The Center for Michigan, listed Dowagiac as 58th overall out of 507 districts throughout the state, with its four elementary schools ranking in the top 10 percent.

“That’s amazing,” Connor said. “That means that 90 percent of schools did worse than we did, which is a pretty amazing statistic. That means a lot.”

The middle school and high school also performed above average, ranked in the top 13 and 22 percentiles, respectively.

Started several years ago by the publication, the Academic State Champ rankings were devised as a way to celebrate the scholastic achievements of Michigan students, similar to the way that student accomplishments in sports like football and basketball are recognized.

The rankings were determined by each district’s level of “overachievement,” which was found by taking their collective tests scores and comparing them to their enrollment numbers along with their community’s demographics, poverty level and other factors.

“It means you’re achieving superior results through excessive effort, and I think that exemplifies what we do here,” Connor said.

The district overall ranked within the top 10 of the study’s Region 8 group, coming in ninth place. The region included districts in seven counties, including Cass, Berrien, Van Buren and St. Joseph.

“This is kind of like winning the state championships in academics,” Connor said.

The Bridge study is third statewide study that the district has performed strong in since the beginning of the school year. In the fall, the Michigan Department of Education recognized Patrick Hamilton and Sister Lakes elementary schools in their annual Beating the Odds rankings. In January, Union High School placed in the top 25 percent of Michigan high schools in the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s annual Apples-to-Apples study.

To the 28-year veteran of the district, these results are the result of the time and dedication that students, staff and administration pour into the schools on a daily basis, Connor said.

“The thing I can honestly say to anyone who asks me about Dowagiac is that we work hard,” she said. “We are overachievers. We put a lot of excessive efforts into our kids, and they give us a lot back. Our parents put a lot of time and effort into their kids, and it shows.”