Several struggling schools in Manatee County have seen improvements this year.

On Wednesday, the School District of Manatee County announced 11 out of 18 underperforming schools with D’s and F’s, improved their grades.

The schools have been participating in the Differentiated Accountability program, a special intervention program led by the state for improving student performance in Florida’s most underperforming schools.

According to the district, at the start of the 2013-2014 school year, there were 18 schools in the Differentiated Accountability program.

By the end of the 2013-2014 school year, 11 of those schools improved enough to be released from the program.

“We were their biggest cheerleader,” said Dr. Diana Greene, Deputy Superintendent for Instructional Services.  “We were just very excited to know that so many schools had exited out of that program.”

Five of the 11 schools, Daughtery Elementary, Moody Elementary, Oneco Elementary, Tara Elementary and Lincoln Middle, improved by two letter grades and as a result exited the program.

The schools that improved by one letter grade and exited the program include Abel Elementary, Ballard Elementary, Bashaw Elementary, Bayshore Elementary and Myakka City Elementary.

“This is an impressive and noteworthy accomplishment for our school district,” said Superintendent Rick Mills. “I want to thank our students, parents, teachers and administrators for achieving these remarkable results.”