Blue Ribbon Schools named in Greenport, Glen Cove

When news reached Greenport Board of Education member Heather Wolf Thursday that the federal government had named the local elementary a "Blue Ribbon School," she said her "shout of glee could be heard across the Peconic Bay."

"We believe that every child can learn and grow and the Blue Ribbon designation is about improvement," she said.

Greenport Elementary and Landing Elementary in Glen Cove were among 304 schools nationwide identified Thursday by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as 2010 National Blue Ribbon Schools. The schools - 254 public and 50 private - will be honored in November in Washington, D.C. In the past 28 years, more than 6,000 schools have received the award.

"Schools honored with the Blue Ribbon Schools award are committed to achievement and to ensuring that students learn and succeed," Duncan said in a written statement.

The award honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools whose students achieve at very high levels or have made significant progress. Often these schools have closed gaps in achievement, especially among disadvantaged and minority students, federal officials said.

Local schools were nominated by the state Department of Education. Schools also are eligible if scores on state tests improve dramatically and at least 40 percent of students are disadvantaged.

Greenport Superintendent Michael Comanda said the roughly 300 elementary school students in grades K-6 were grouped according to similar needs and these small groups were instructed by a combination of teachers, teaching assistants and teacher aides.

Schools were closed Thursday and Friday for the Jewish holy days, but Comanda expects the school will celebrate next week including one day when everyone will wear blue. Greenport Elementary was nominated in the High Performing school group, among the top 10 percent of schools in state, state education officials said.

"It's just not about looking at data and not about buying supplies and books. It is about saying we believe as a community, as a staff, our kids can improve," Comanda said.

In Glen Cove, Landing Principal Michael Israel, a former Landing student himself, sent a notice Thursday to staff informing them of the award. State education officials said Landing was nominated in the Dramatically Improving school group.

The Landing school serves 312 students in grades 3, 4 and 5. The school implemented a number of strategies to help improve student achievement, including creating readers' and writers' workshops for language arts and a more hands-on approach to teaching math, Israel said. Teachers used different genres, such as poetry and literature, to immerse kids in literacy, he said.

"This is a terrific way to begin the upcoming school year," Israel said. "Nonetheless, we still have greater challenges and more work to do."