Liberty Corner School (Liberty Corner, NJ). Trained parent volunteers, Literacy United Volunteers (LUV), help our Kindergartners navigate the initial stages of literacy. Volunteers are trained by our Reading Specialists in the Reading and Writing Workshop formats and in supporting at‐risk students to improve comprehension, word recognition, decoding and encoding, fluency, and apply reading strategies using… Continue Reading Trained Literacy Volunteers, Videotaped Academies
Martin Petitjean Elementary School (Rayne, LA). Martin Petitjean Elementary (MPE) engages parents in three key ways. First, all homeroom teachers make home visits to meet their new students in August prior to school opening. This allows teachers to see firsthand where each student lives and sends the message to parents that the MPE teachers care enough… Continue Reading Home Visits, Class Assemblies, Student-Led Conferences
The School for the Creative and Performing Arts at Bluegrass (SCAPA at Bluegrass) (Lexington, KY). Administration and school staff welcome and actively seek parent relationships. SCAPA has an active School Based Decision Making Council (SBDM) that opens leadership and committee positions for parents and teachers to make positive contributions to our school, such as decisions regarding school… Continue Reading Decision-Making, Arts Production Assistance
KIPP STRIVE Academy (Atlanta, GA). Parents and guardians at KIPP STRIVE Academy are held to high expectations. They are expected to check their child’s homework each night and attend parent meetings and conferences. Parents are also invited to attend academic workshops and contribute to the school by volunteering their time when possible. To further increase parent… Continue Reading Workshops, Communications, Content Nights
Dr. Sheila Harrity offered ceremony attendees both praise and a challenge. Her talk, “Congratulations! What’s Next?” traced how she approached the transformation of Worcester Technical High School (Worcester, MA) from a struggling school to a national example cited by President Barack Obama. Key to her success were a vigorous outreach to local businesses and community… Continue Reading Sheila Harrity, 2013 NBRS Principal: Making Magic Happen–Twice
Retired engineer Dale Johnson realized his mission to introduce students to engineering in his town of Mahtomedi, Minnesota, when local interest, energy, and funding culminated in the first Fab Lab (3-D Fabrication Laboratory) to be built in a US public school. In this latest National Blue Ribbon school site visit video, Mahtomedi High School Principal… Continue Reading National Blue Ribbon School Built Nation’s First Fab Lab
Retired engineer Dale Johnson was on a mission to introduce engineering to schools in his town of Mahtomedi, Minnesota when he teamed up with then-district science coordinator Kathe Nickleby. With hard work all around, Mahtomedi High School created the first Fabrication Laboratory (Fab Lab) modeled on the original at MIT. In this latest school site… Continue Reading National Blue Ribbon School Built First in Nation School Fab Lab
Mahtomedi High School Mahtomedi Public School District Mahtomedi, MN 2016 winner: Inspired by a retired engineer who saw a need to prepare students for the good jobs of the future, Mahtomedi High School, Mahtomedi, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul, created the world’s first Fab Lab in a high school. There students use high tech… Continue Reading Minnesota School’s Fab Lab Is First In the Nation: Mahtomedi High School
Mahtomedi Public School District Mahtomedi, MN Following the success of the Mahtomedi High School’s engineering and 3-D fabrication lab (see the related video), district officials recognized that learning the engineering process would benefit all students. Mahtomedi Public Schools introduced engineering at the middle and elementary school levels, linking it to the science curriculum and offering… Continue Reading Engineering for Everyone: A District Embraces A K-12 Curriculum: Mahtomedia Public Schools
Blackshear Elementary Fine Arts Academy Austin Independent School District Austin, TX In 2011, Blackshear Elementary School (Austin, TX) was labeled in need of improvement. Today, under the inspired leadership of Principal Betty Jenkins, who arrived in 2012, Blackshear is a jewel of the Austin Independent School District, the state’s first elementary level fine arts academy… Continue Reading Books and Ballet: A Turnaround Success Becomes A Fine Arts Academy: Blackshear Elementary School