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AUBURN (AP) — A struggling Maine school has been awarded more $1.6 million to increase student achievement.

The Maine Department of Education said it has awarded the School Improvement Grant funding to Washburn Elementary School in Auburn, which serves 238 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

The department says the goal is to raise student proficiency in tath by 30 percent and in reading by 35 percent over the next five years.

The money will go toward boosting educator effectiveness and instruction at Washburn and providing a new pre-kindergarten program for students, among other things.

Eighty percent of the families that send their children to Washburn live below the poverty level and more than 80 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.



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