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October 6, 2009

Roosa named Blue Ribbon School

October 6, 2009 — U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently announced the 2009 National Blue Ribbon Schools and Claremore’s Roosa Elementary School was among those with the distinction.

Roosa Elementary will be honored at an awards ceremony in Washington, DC, where each Blue Ribbon School receives a plaque and flag to signify its Blue Ribbon School status. These schools serve as models for other schools throughout the nation.

“These Blue Ribbon Schools are places where improved teaching and learning benefits every student, and where students are challenged to meet high expectations with the active support of teachers, parents and the community,” Secretary Duncan said.

The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private schools based on one of two criteria: 1) Schools whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state tests, and 2) Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that demonstrate dramatic improvement of student performance to high levels on state or national tests.

In addition, public schools must meet Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, in reading and mathematics.

Glen Abshere, principal at Roosa, was quick to point out that Blue Ribbon status is achieved through a group effort.

“We have a wonderful staff of teachers who strive each and every day to educate and challenge our students to do their very best. Additionally, we are blessed with fabulous parents who take the time to be involved in their children’s education and provide support at home.”

“The Blue Ribbon Schools Program sets an exemplary standard that should be a goal for all improving schools and schools striving for high levels of achievement,” said Claremore Public Schools Superintendent Michael McClaren. “We are proud of Roosa Elementary — the students, faculty, and parents — who have made this distinction possible.”

The Blue Ribbon program dates back to 1982, when then Secretary of Education Terrel Bell commissioned a study of American education. The report, called A Nation at Risk, described a “rising tide” of mediocre schools that threatened the nation’s future. In part, it galvanized the extraordinary energy that has been devoted to educational research over the last quarter century.

Secretary Bell created the Blue Ribbon Schools Award to bring the best U.S. schools to public attention and to recognize those schools whose students thrived and excelled. Working with the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, Bell launched the Blue Ribbon Schools and the National Distinguished Principals Programs. Both highlighted outstanding models of American schools and school leadership.

Since then, the U. S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Schools Program has honored many of America’s most successful schools. A Blue Ribbon School flag waving overhead has become a mark of excellence, a symbol of quality recognized by everyone from parents to policy-makers in thousands of communities.

That Blue Ribbon School flag will soon be waving over Roosa Elementary.

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