CRANBURY: School makes national honor roll

[Cranbury Press]

CRANBURY: School makes national honor roll
Thursday, October 1, 2009 6:05 PM EDT
By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer

CRANBURY — The Cranbury School will be honored by the federal government for academic achievement next month.

The U.S. Department of Education is honoring the school with a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Award, a distinction that was limited to 314 schools nationwide in 2009.

”It’s based on high student achievement,” said Superintendent John Haney. “It’s those (schools) scoring in the top 10 percent of all test scores in a period of time.”

The Blue Ribbon Schools program, established in 2001, 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, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Web site.

Cranbury was one of three public elementary schools in the state to receive the bBlue Ribbon Award, along with Hillview Elementary School of Pompton Plains and Julia A. Traphagen Elementary School of Waldwick.
Using the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge test, the state Department of Education reviewed Cranbury School’s scores from the past five years, Mr. Haney said. In December, following the review, state officials nominated Cranbury School.

By February, school officials were applying to the federal Department of Education as a candidate for the award, Mr. Haney said.

The district received word last week that federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan had selected the school as an award recipient.

What differentiates Cranbury School from the others is that educators not only continue to update their teaching methodology but study the outcome of those methods, Mr. Haney said.

A combination of supportive parents, a “forward-looking” school board and skilled staff members who put the focus on their students has helped Cranbury School maintain its level of high performance, Mr. Haney said.

”When you have a combination of these elements great things happen,” he said. “We have everything going for us in this community.”

Mr. Haney and math teacher Jeannine LanPhear plan to attend a ceremony in Washington, D.C., at the Omni Shoreham Hotel on Nov.3 to accept the ribbon.

As a recipient of the ribbon, Cranbury School is considered a model school with programs and teaching methods that other districts will look to replicate, Mr. Haney said.

”I’m just thankful to be a part of such a great organization,” he said.

http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2009/10/02/cranbury_press/news/doc4ac526acba78b818454054.txt

[Guest]

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