Blue ribbons filled every conceivable space inside and outside Washington Community School on Jan. 15 as students, parents, teachers, administrators, and officials from every level of government filled the 100-year-old auditorium to celebrate the school being awarded a National No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon.
This is the third Blue Ribbon won by a Bayonne School since 1999, and the second in a row under the rigorous requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.
The program recognizes schools that have at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and who have dramatically improved student performance in accordance with state assessment systems. A total of 413 schools nationwide can be nominated.
“You are Blue Ribbon students. Don’t ever forget that.” – Mayor Mark Smith
________
The school has 575 students from pre-kindergarten to the eighth grade, and was honored by the U.S. Department of Education because of the significant gains it had made over a five year period.
Schools Superintendent Dr. Patricia McGeehan called it “a great day” for the school district and welcomed the gathering to “Blue Ribbon Land.”
“The children sang a song saying this is a great day,” she said. “This is a great day, not just for Washington School, but for all of Bayonne.”
She said the National Blue Ribbon is considered the highest honor an America school can achieve.
Test scores up over five years
Schools can win the award in several ways, and each of the three schools found different ways to the top, with the ethnically diverse Midtown Community School winning the award in 1999, and PS No. 14 – the district’s gifted and talented school – winning last year.
Washington Community won this year because it managed to make great strides in meeting the basic requirements for the award by demonstrating that at least 40 percent of its students of disadvantaged backgrounds significantly improved their test scores over a five-year period.
Washington Community School was one of nine schools in the state to receive the Blue Ribbon award this year.
Of the 320 schools to receive the honor this year, eight were in New Jersey. Washington School is the only Blue Ribbon School in Hudson County this year.
The No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle, and high schools that are either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement to high levels. In addition to being honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., where each school receives a plaque and flag signifying their status, these schools serve as models for other schools throughout the nation.
McGheehan’s high standards cited
Principal Peter Anatas said schools superintendent McGeehan set a stiff standard for schools to meet, which was one of the reasons the school succeeded.
“She is a dedicated individual that sets extremely high standards,” he said.
Although scheduled to join the officials speaking at the event, Aba Kumi, director of the National Blue Ribbon Schools program, was unable to attend. But Rep. Albio Sires, state Sen. Sandra Cunningham, Freeholder Doreen DiDomenico, Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith. and others did attend, and both U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg sent messages of congratulations.
Sires said this is the third Blue Ribbon Award that Bayonne has received and the second since Sires has become a member of the House of Representatives. A former teacher, Sires said he was immensely proud to attend the ceremonies honoring the school.
“You are a member of one of the finest schools, not only in this county, not only in the state, but in the country,” he told the gathering of students.
Mayor Smith said while the accomplishment was a team effort that included everybody from students through faculty that included long hours of home work, class assignments and the dedication of teachers and administrators, the students themselves deserve a huge amount of the credit.
“The most important component of this award – boys and girls – are each and every one of you,” Smith told the students. “You are Blue Ribbon students. Don’t ever forget that. You accomplished something on a national level. You did it with your hard work and your dedication and your perseverance. This is a landmark. This teaches you going forward that if you put your mind to something, anything that you work hard at, you can accomplish.”
Cunningham said for five years students and others worked together as a team to achieve this award.
“You took your own special talents and your own gifts and put them together and created an unstoppable and unbeatable, exceptional team,” she said.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.