The South Carolina Department of Education announced Monday the recipients of the Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards for the 2012-2013 school year.  
The South Carolina Department of Education recognized 662 schools and career centers for general performance, closing the achievement gap, or qualifying in both categories.
Two Dillon County Schools received recognition. Lake View Elementary won a Silver Award for General Performance for the 2012-2013 school year. Gordon Elementary won Silver Award for Achievement Gap for the 2012-2013 school year.
The Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards program (PGS) began with the Education Accountability Act of 1998, giving recognition to schools for high levels of academic achievement and high rates of improvement.  
The PGS recognizes schools based on the criteria in the statewide Accountability Manual approved by the Education Oversight Committee (EOC) for both general performance and working towards closing the achievement gap.  
Within those two categories, a school may be awarded either the gold or silver designation.  The EOC revised the criteria for Palmetto Silver General Performance this year, reducing the number of eligible schools.
Of the award recipients, 447 schools were recognized for general performance only, 39 were recognized for closing the achievement gap only, and 191 schools were recognized for their performance in both general performance and closing the achievement gap.  Approximately 68 percent of this year’s recipient schools have a poverty index of 60 or higher.  This is the fifth year that closing the achievement gap has been honored as part of the PGS.