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Rochester school nominated to get Blue Ribbon award
By MARCUS WEISGERBER
Democrat Staff Writer

ROCHESTER — The William Allen School has been nominated to receive highest honors from the federal government for excellence in students’ performance.

The school has been nominated in the academic achievement category of the Blue Ribbon Schools Program, part of the No Child Left Behind Act, according to Principal Robert Hanson.

The school has been nominated because at least 40 percent of its students are classified as coming from disadvantaged backgrounds and have made significant gains in achievement based on the New Hampshire Educational Improvement and Assessment Program (NHEIAP) scores, he said.

The Blue Ribbon program honors public and private K-12 schools that are either academically superior in their states or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.

The program requires schools to meet either of two assessment criteria. It recognizes schools with at least 40 percent disadvantaged students that dramatically improve student performance in accordance with state assessment systems; and it rewards schools that score in the top 10 percent on state assessments, according to U.S. Department of Education.

Of the schools submitted by each state, at least one-third must meet the first criterion of having 40 percent of the students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The program allows both elementary and secondary schools to be recognized in the same year.

The school has spent hours working together, planning and analyzing data about the performance of its students, Hanson said.

"It was nice to see that our hard work has paid off and being recognized for the outstanding gains that we made with our students," he said.

Hanson told teachers of the school’s achievement Wednesday afternoon during a faculty meeting and received a large ovation.

William Allen is the only elementary school and one of only three schools in New Hampshire to be nominated by the state for Blue Ribbon Honors.

Superintendent Dr. Raymond Yeagley praised the school for its accomplishments during the monthly School Board meeting last Thursday. Yeagley expressed his delight as a parent with William Allen School, which his children attended.

The school must now fill out applications for the U.S. Department of Education documenting its scores and the rise in achievement levels, Hanson said.

The winning schools will be notified in September 2005 and will be honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in November of 2005.

"We have put so much work into doing what we think is in the best interest of the kids and now knowing that it pays off with this recognition is just great for us," Hanson said.