AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Education nominated three schools – Longfellow Elementary School in Portland, Williams-Cone Elementary School in Topsham and Yarmouth Elementary School – to be 2013 National Blue Ribbon Schools.
The U.S. Department of Education program honors public and private schools whose students achieve at very high levels or have made significant progress and closed gaps in achievement, especially among disadvantaged and minority students.
Since 1982, the federal Education department has annually sought out schools where students attain and maintain high academic goals, including those that beat the odds. In its 31-year history, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed this coveted award on over 7,000 of America’s schools, including nearly 50 in Maine. The commissioner in each state nominates schools, which are then invited by the U.S. secretary of education to submit a formal application.
Each of the three nominated schools has student achievement in the top 15 percent in Maine for both reading and math. The federal Education department will announce awardees in September 2013.
For more information about Maine’s program and past winners, and a link to the national website, go to: www.maine.gov/doe/recognition/school.html.
This is wonderful and a real honor for the schools that are included. I truly honor their teachers, students and communities. I know these are dynamic schools and are truly deserving of the honors they have earned. I look forward to a time when we can be proud of Maine as a state because the schools being honored also include schools from across Maine in areas that face challenges in addition to the ones being faced by these districts. I believe that is something that should be part of Maine’s educational vision so that we may achieve something we all can be proud for students across the geographical and funding landscape.