SEATTLE - Just the mere satisfaction should be enough that you've done well.

The fifth graders at Van Asselt Elementary did better than well. They did great on the WASL exam. They went in prepared.

"Like reading strategies, math strategies and also writing strategies, " says 5th grader Devotion Charles.

It paid off big time.

75%, 69%, and 63% of the class passed in the 3 R's: reading, writing, and 'Rithmetic.

South Seattle's Van Asselt is one of three elementary schools in the state that made the greatest improvements. John Muir and Thorndyke Elementary schools were the two others.

Van Asselt's WASL scores more than quadrupled from seven years ago when teacher Lissa Munger started.

"It wasn't like this, no," says Munger who taught 4th grade last year, and teaches 5th grade this year.

Back then, this school was on a federal list of failing schools. Now? They just received the 2006 Apple Award from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and a $25,000 check to honor the accomplishment.

"How many of you are working real hard on your writing and your math?" Principal Turner asks students in the hallway. A dozen students quickly raised their hands.

The award to Van Asselt is a big deal when you consider the students at this school are considered among the poorest in the state. Four out of five students here qualify for a free lunch. And four out of five students are from homes where English is a second language.

So what's the secret? Two things: They don't teach to the WASL test, and they teach to the most gifted in class. The idea: bring everyone else up.

It's clearly working.