The Chinatown school of more than 600 kids — almost all of whom speak Cantonese or a language other than English at home — is one of only two California schools and 100 schools nationwide to win the national Title 1 Distinguished Schools award this academic year.

"We're just making steady progress," Principal Caroline Yee said. "We have great partnerships with the parents, the staff works really hard. Parents aren't fighting with staff, and that's just so important."

The Distinguished Schools award, part of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, goes to two low-income schools from each state each year.

Lincoln Elementary and the Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School in Los Angeles beat out about 5,900 other eligible California schools to win this year's awards.

State Superintendent Jack O'Connell's office nominated Lincoln for the high test scores of itsAsian and low-income students, who make up almost the entire student population at the school. Nearly 90 percent of the students are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

In addition to Cantonese, other languages spoken at home include Mongolian and Mandarin. About 1 percent of Lincoln students come from Spanish-speaking homes.

This year, Lincoln scored 864 on the state's Academic Performance Index, the scale from 200 to 1,000 that rates schools based on test scores. A score of 800 on the API is considered excellent.

"By nominating these two outstanding schools, I want to shine a spotlight on students, teachers and administrators who are succeeding in spite of difficult circumstances," O'Connell said in a news release.

Yee, who is married to Oakland school board member Gary Yee, attended Lincoln as a child. She became principal of the school a year and a half ago.

She said parents help by making sure students show up every day. The school has an attendance rate of almost 99 percent, she said.

"That means teachers don't have to reteach stuff, and the kids are there," she said.

Lincoln is big enough to have an assistant principal on the payroll. But Yee said the school decided against hiring an administrator and instead spends its money on "intervention" teachers — one for writing, one for science and one for English learners.

"A lot of (students) aren't American-born," Yee said. "We really do have to do a lot to get them up to proficiency. The teachers work really hard at it."

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