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November 21, 2009

JISD gets two blue ribbon honors

By Nathan Straus

nstraus@jacksonvilleprogress.com



Jacksonville Independent School District officials said they were pleased to hear two JISD campuses were nominated for blue ribbon status Friday.

The award honors schools for academic excellence and for making significant progress in closing the achievement gap.

“To be nominated is a tremendous honor for the district and shows that success comes because of the high level of commitment of our staff, students and parents. I think it demonstrates the quality level of academic achievement in this school district,” said JISD Superintendent Joe Wardell.

Two schools were nominated in two categories, Wardell said. These schools are among only 26 schools in the entire state to be nominated.

“There were two schools out of over 8,300 campuses. It shows an academic-achievement level of success,” he said.

Nominations are based on one of two criteria. The first covers schools that dramatically improve student performance to high levels on state tests. The second includes schools whose students achieve in the top 10 percent of all Texas students on state tests.

West Side Elementary was nominated for being within the top 10 percent of student performance on state tests, and Fred Douglass Elementary was nominated for dramatic improvement.

“You must have 40 percent economically disadvantaged. And the school district has 79 percent economically disadvantaged,” Wardell said.

Both campuses will be recognized in Austin in January 2010 at the Texas Association of School Administrators Mid-Winter Conference on Education, he said.

“West Side Elementary and Fred Douglass Elementary will have the distinction of being Blue Ribbon Schools for the next five years. They will be models for underachieving schools,” Wardell said.

A Texas Education Association press released stated nominated schools will be entered into a national competition for honor throughout the nation. They will go through a rigorous application process through the U.S. Department of Education. Award winners will be announced in September 2010. These schools will be recognized at the Blue Ribbon School conference in Washington, D.C.

According to the press release, all nominated schools are recommended by an intra-agency committee and examined for student achievement statistics with more than 8,000 schools. Selected campuses must demonstrate success in closing the achievement gap, and must have a significant economically disadvantaged population.

“Schools nominated for the award serve as models of best practices for schools across the state,” the release stated.

For the past 27 years, the program has honored more than 5,800 of America’s public and private schools, including almost 500 Texas campuses.

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