New York Wiki

On the Honor Roll
Hempstead, Uniondale, Westbury schools get 'blue ribbon'

By John Hildebrand, STAFF WRITER

2003 September 17

Three Long Island public schools serving mostly black and Hispanic students won
U.S. "blue ribbon" status yesterday under a revamped awards system that
recognizes dramatic test-score gains in English and math.

The three local schools - Franklin School in Hempstead, Turtle Hook Middle
School in Uniondale and Westbury Middle School - are among about 220 public
and private schools honored nationwide. Yesterday's announcement by the U.S.
Education Department touched off celebrations among the schools' staffers and
students, many of whom have had to overcome twin effects of poverty and
limited English to raise their academic standing.

"How do you feel about being the best?" said Constance Clark, superintendent of
Westbury schools, as a class of 19 seventh-graders broke into applause.
Yesterday, Clark and other administrators went from classroom to classroom in
the school to announce the news.

The announcement from Washington also sent morale soaring at Franklin School,
which is dealing with an extra challenge this semester. The elementary school's
enrollment, normally around 600, has been pushed close to 800 by the addition
of children from the district's Prospect School, which has been closed because of
structural deterioration.

"I'm hoping it serves as an example of just what schools can do, number one,
and number two, that we can move our students even higher," said John Moore,
principal of Franklin School since 1991.

Blue-ribbon designations have been handed out nationwide since 1982, under a
federal program meant to honor schools for outstanding achievement. Until this
year, however, much of the criteria for recognition was notably vague - for
example, with points given to schools fostering a "caring community" among
teachers and students.

This year's group is the first recognized under new criteria, pushed by the Bush
administration, that emphasize math and reading achievement. Under the
revamped rules, schools can win blue-ribbon status for one of two reasons:
either because they improved test scores dramatically and serve substantial
numbers of disadvantaged students, or because they score in the top 10 percent
in their state.

All three of the Island's honored schools fall in the first category, and all have
raised scores through a combination of tactics that include clear-cut academic
goals and lots of after-school tutoring. At the Turtle Hook School, for example,
teachers are required to offer extra help to students for 50 minutes after classes
at least once a week.

All three schools have had obstacles to overcome. At Westbury Middle School,
more than three-fourths of students qualify, through low family incomes, for free
or reduced-price lunches. Thirteen percent speak languages other than English -
usually either Spanish or Haitian Creole.

To boost test scores, the Westbury school in recent years has begun providing
students in need with double daily periods of English and math. One result is that
the portion of eighth-graders scoring satisfactorily in English has jumped 20
points, to 52 percent.

"You know, the school worked very hard to get to this point," said Karen Dolsky,
a sixth-grade teacher.

Notably missing from yesterday's list were schools in wealthier parts of Long
Island that consistently appear among the nation's top schools in private
rankings. Some of those schools do not actively seek blue-ribbon status, being
more concerned with private rankings that recognize a higher level of
achievement.

"It's really not on the radar screen," said Charles Fowler, superintendent of
Hewlett-Woodmere schools and president of the Nassau County Council of School
Superintendents. However, he applauded the efforts to boost student
performance by the honored schools.

Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
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