Record 4 LI schools win federal Blue Ribbon award

September 17, 2009 by JOHN HILDEBRAND / john.hildebrand@newsday.com

At Brookside Elementary School in Baldwin, students are starting to paint blue ribbons on classroom windows (with removable paint, of course).

In East Rockaway's Centre Avenue School, actual ribbons already hang from doors.

And at Lakeville School in Great Neck, students danced in classrooms earlier this week as loudspeakers announced that their building had won a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon award.

--PHOTOS: LI's Blue Ribbon schools

"Listen to the music and let's dance, because we are going to celebrate!" said Principal Barbara Raber, as she played a rendition of "Celebration" over the public-address system.

A record four Long Island schools are among 314 nationwide awarded Blue Ribbon status this year, under a screening process that requires nearly a year to complete. The Island's other winner is William Sidney Mount Elementary School in Stony Brook, part of the Three Village system.

On Nov. 3, representatives of winning schools - 264 public and 50 private - will be honored in Washington, D.C. Attendees will also hear presentations from a dozen schools including Lakeville, which will talk about how it teaches algebraic reasoning, starting in first grade.

All Island winners rank in the top 10 percent of schools statewide for test scores. That's one criterion used by officials to judge eligibility. Schools also are eligible if scores improve dramatically and at least 40 percent of students are disadvantaged.

This year's Island group is the largest honored since 2003, when federal officials ramped up eligibility requirements to include high test scores.

All four schools enjoy high degrees of parent participation. Last year, when insurers notified Centre Avenue School that it would have to replace all its worn-out playground equipment, parents organized a series of fundraisers and the task was completed by June. "Even in the tough times, they've passed the budget," said Tim Silk, now in his 21st year as principal.

Teachers have gone the extra mile, too. Marie Lyons and Diane Rafferty, co-leaders of the committee that put together Centre Avenue's written presentation for federal screeners, logged more than 80 hours each completing that work after school, while continuing to teach classes. Both turned down offers to bring in substitute teachers to help.

"Some people hate getting up for work in the morning - I love coming here," Rafferty said.

Once nominated by their states, candidate schools submit applications to Washington totaling more than 4,000 words. Applications include 11 essays on subjects ranging from teacher training to curriculum to quality of leadership.

For principals and teachers, applications are a chance to reflect on their schools' strengths. Brookside's principal, Ivy Sherman, cites her school's literacy program, which allows all students to read different books each day, based on individual reading levels.

Mount Principal Nathalie Lilavois points to her school's Career Day program, which brings in parents and other adults to talk about their jobs to students, starting in third grade.

One parent, an ophthalmologist, has come in several years to talk about eye surgery. In a related exercise, fifth- and sixth-graders who listen to the presentation are also given a chance to dissect cow eyes in the school's science lab.

Lilavois says students grasp the connection between this and their everyday classroom work: "They say, 'Oh, I see where the math comes in and the science comes in and why I have to know this.' "