Beechwood Elementary students were recognized Thursday for their state test scores, but the students were not the only ones being recognized.

To their surprise, principal Tamikia Billings and assistant principal Devona Dew were also recognized and showered with balloons, flowers and gifts at the end of the program.

“We were shocked,” Billings said. “We’re really big on acknowledging people for their greatness and what they have done, so this was really special.”

Billings and Dew were recognized for their leadership as their school rose by a large margin on the impact data received from the state tests the students took last year.

“We grew 74 points,” Billings said. “Two-hundred-three of our third through sixth grade students increased in either one or both subjects or remained at the proficiency level.”

Dew said the score for the impact data is determined by compiling students who achieve proficient or advanced, or show growth in reading and math.

“When I called my other principal friends and said guess how much we grew, they asked if I was kidding,” she said.

Part of the reason the school grew so much was due to the students setting their own goals, Dew said.

“It was amazing to see kids take ownership of their learning,” she said. “It wasn’t just the teachers being the leaders, but the kids were saying, ‘I’m doing it.’ ”

Dew said the teachers also worked together as a team to get the students where they needed to be.

“If a kid was struggling with something they could go to another teacher and ask them what they were doing, and they were so willing to tell them how they did it,” she said. “They would invite them to come in and watch a lesson or whatever it took to get it done.”

Billings said it was her goal when she started at Beechwood in 2012 to be more data driven.

“The school already had the great teachers and the great students, so we just added to that,” she said. “With good leadership everyone is going to improve.”

The teachers knew what the kids needed to make progress and they made that happen, Billings said.

“You’ve got to know where you’re going to get to where you want to be, so we just helped build that roadmap for them to show them what they needed to do to get to those next step,” she said. “We looked at the data for every individual kid. The teachers looked at every individual kid’s strengths and weaknesses and built their lessons upon that.”

Billings said this growth just shows that Beechwood is a great place to be.

“Truly these teachers here believe in their kids, and they know it,” she said. “The kids know when you believe in them and love them, and that’s why the teachers here can take any kid from anywhere and take them to where they need to be.”