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30-459: It was formerly two separate schools, Shepaug Valley Middle School ( SVMS ) and Shepaug Valley High School ( SVHS ). It was chosen as Connecticut's only public high school to receive the blue-ribbon school in 1998, and one of two in New England . Prior to 2000 the school received block scheduling . In 2012 the superintendent of the school district, Patricia Cosentino, wanted to establish

60-688: A for-profit company which had appropriated the Blue Ribbon School name. During its first 25 years of existence, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Award was granted approximately 5,600 times, recognizing 5,200 different schools. (Some schools have been selected two or more times.) More than 133,000 public, charter, private and parochial schools serving grades K 12 are eligible for the award. More than 9,000 schools have been honored as National Blue Ribbon Schools — with more than 10,000 awards given in total — since

90-416: A "flexible schedule" (using elements of both block and traditional scheduling) regime for both the middle and high schools, and therefore end block scheduling for high school students. The high school parent council opposed the plan. In 2012 there were about 320 students in the high school, and the enrollment was decreasing. 10 years later in 2022, there has been a continued decline in the amount of attendees at

120-548: A "rising tide" of mediocre schools that threatened the nation's future. Secretary Bell created the National Blue Ribbon Schools Award to bring exceptional U.S. schools to public attention and to recognize those schools whose students thrived and excelled. Working with the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals , Bell launched

150-475: A solid foundation for learning. This is ISCED Level 1 : Primary education or first stage of basic education. Within the English speaking world, there are three widely used systems to describe the age of the child. The first is the "equivalent ages"; then countries that base their education systems on the "English model" use one of two methods to identify the year group; while countries that base their systems on

180-741: A state liaison which schools must contact for nomination. The program has also been criticized for assessment of schools coming from the school itself rather than an independent third party and a nomination and assessment process that favors schools with the know-how and resources to complete the review assessment. Primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore ), elementary school , or grade school (in North America and

210-487: A swing-set, a pond, and a memorial to former student Tam Farrow . Shepaug also hosts soccer and field hockey fields, a competitive cross country trail, and a track that was recently under renovation. Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures,

240-448: A synonym, "elementary school" has specific meanings in different locations. School building design does not happen in isolation. The building (or school campus) needs to accommodate: Each country will have a different education system and priorities. Schools need to accommodate students, staff, storage, mechanical and electrical systems, support staff, ancillary staff and administration. The number of rooms required can be determined from

270-621: Is restricted. David W. Kirkpatrick, the Senior Education Fellow at the US Freedom Foundation, noted in an editorial titled, "Awarding Blue Ribbons: Recognizing Schools or Students?" that criteria for the awards do not take into account the socioeconomic status of the students and that studies show that students who come from homes with higher income and better educated parents do better than students without these advantages by virtue of their backgrounds. Thus,

300-666: The National Association of Secondary School Principals . Since the program's founding in 1982, the award has been presented to more than 9,000 schools. National Blue Ribbon Schools represent the full diversity of American schools: public schools including Title I schools , charter schools , magnet schools , and non-public schools including parochial and independent schools . The schools are urban, suburban, and rural, large and small, traditional and innovative, and serve students of every social, economic, and ethnic background. In 1982, then-Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell , best known for commissioning A Nation at Risk , described

330-574: The "American K–12 model" refer to their year groups as "grades". Canada also follows the American model, although its names for year groups are put as a number after the grade: For instance, "Grade 1" in Canada, rather than "First Grade" in the United States. This terminology extends into the research literature. In Canada, education is a provincial, not a federal responsibility. For example,

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360-454: The Council for American Private Education nominate eligible schools for the annual award. Eligible schools must demonstrate high or strongly improving student scores on state or nationally normed assessments in the last year tested; schools must also make Annual Yearly Progress in accordance with No Child Left Behind . Nominated schools submit applications describing school operations such as

390-557: The Department honors high-performing schools and schools that are making great strides in closing any achievement gaps between students. The U.S. Department of Education is responsible for administering the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, which is supported through ongoing collaboration with the National Association of Elementary School Principals, Association for Middle Level Education , and

420-678: The National Blue Ribbon Schools and the National Distinguished Principals Programs. Both programs highlighted outstanding models of American schools and school leadership. Initially, the National Blue Ribbon Schools program honored only secondary schools ; it was later expanded to include primary schools . It was changed again to honor secondary schools and primary schools in alternate years and now honors secondary, middle, elementary, and K-8 and K-12 schools each year. In 2003,

450-496: The Philippines) is a school for primary education of children who are 4 to 10 years of age (and in many cases, 11 years of age). Primary schooling follows preschool and precedes secondary schooling . The International Standard Classification of Education considers primary education as a single phase where programmes are typically designed to provide fundamental skills in reading, writing, and mathematics and to establish

480-516: The US, although both this term and elementary school may refer to the first eight grades, in other words both primary education and lower secondary education . The term primary school is derived from the French école primaire , which was first used in an English text in 1802. In the United Kingdom, "elementary education" was taught in "elementary schools" until 1944, when free elementary education

510-468: The award is usually given to schools with students from wealthy backgrounds. As evidence to support his case, he pointed to the distribution of awards given in Pennsylvania one year; of the eight schools receiving the award, only one was in a district whose income level was near the state average, and the rest went to districts with an above average income, including two in the wealthiest communities in

540-509: The award within the five prior years. Must have excellence in the fields of academics, arts, and athletics. Although at one time schools self-nominated for the award, this is no longer the case. At the invitation of the U.S. Secretary of Education, Chief State School Officers, including Washington, D.C. , the Department of Defense Education Activity , the Bureau of Indian Education , and

570-415: The building is shared between middle and high school students. It consists of a cafeteria, a large, central cavity known as "the mall", a library resource center with more than 10,000 print volumes, gymnasium, planetarium, swimming pool, band and choir practice rooms, fine arts, auto, and woodworking shops, and a professionally equipped theatre. Outdoors on campus, there is a peace pole and reflection area,

600-402: The education has to fulfill the needs of: The students, the teachers, the non-teaching support staff, the administrators and the community. It has to meet general government building guidelines, health requirements, minimal functional requirements for classrooms, toilets and showers, electricity and services, preparation and storage of textbooks and basic teaching aids. An optimum school will meet

630-400: The floor area should be 350 m + 4.1 m /pupil place. The external finishes were to be downgraded to meet a build cost of £1113/m . There are several main ways of funding a school: by the state through general taxation, by a pressure group such as a mosque or church, by a charity, by contributions from parents, or by a combination of these methods. Day-to-day oversight of the school can through

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660-412: The institution, with a total enrollment of 434 students across grades 6-12. Shepaug is a one-floor building housed on an 80-acre (320,000 m) campus. Since the space is shared with students of Shepaug Valley Middle School, who have their own wing in the building, high school students take academic courses in their own section of the building, a long hallway off of which classrooms branch. The rest of

690-492: The minimum conditions and will have: Government accountants having read the advice then publish minimum guidelines on schools. These enable environmental modelling and establishing building costs. Future design plans are audited to ensure that these standards are met but not exceeded. Government ministries continue to press for the 'minimum' space and cost standards to be reduced. The UK government published this downwardly revised space formula for primary schools in 2014. It said

720-466: The predicted roll of the school and the area needed. According to standards used in the United Kingdom, a general classroom for 30 reception class or infant (Keystage 1) students needs to be 62 m , or 55 m for juniors (Keystage 2). Examples are given on how this can be configured for a 210 place primary with attached 26 place nursery and two-storey 420 place (two form entry) primary school with attached 26 place nursery. The building providing

750-552: The program was restructured to bring it in line with the No Child Left Behind Education Law , placing a stronger emphasis on state assessment data and requiring schools to demonstrate high academic success. Schools must show how data are interpreted and used and how curriculum, instruction, professional development, and student support promote student success. In 2012 the program was renamed the National Blue Ribbon Schools program to distinguish it from

780-659: The program's inception. States, territories, the Bureau of Indian Affairs , and the Department of Defense Education Activity schools have joined the competition over the years. Special emphases have changed from year to year based on national priorities. Among National Blue Ribbon Schools there is much diversity: the award recognizes rural, urban, and suburban schools; large and small schools, and public and non-public schools. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program accepts nominations from both public and non-public schools that meet one of two criteria: Eligible schools must have been in existence for five years and cannot have received

810-407: The province of Ontario also had a " Grade 13 ", designed to help students enter the workforce or post-secondary education, but this was phased out in the year 2003. In most parts of the world, primary education is the first stage of compulsory education , and is normally available without charge, but may also be offered by fee-paying independent schools . The term grade school is sometimes used in

840-456: The state. While Kirkpatrick proposed an alternative to recognizing "blue ribbon students", he wrote, "...a more accurate indication of a good school would be one that adjusts for such socioeconomic factors and identifies those in which students do better than would normally be expected, based on their backgrounds." From the program's inception through 2003, schools were permitted to nominate themselves. As of 2003, nominations are handled through

870-504: The use of assessments and assessment data, instructional methods, curricula, professional development, leadership, and community and family involvement. A total of 420 schools may be nominated in any year; state quotas are determined by the number of students and schools. The Blue Ribbon award is considered the highest honor an American school can achieve. A school's use of the National Blue Ribbon Schools logo

900-568: Was proposed for students over 11: there were to be primary elementary schools and secondary elementary schools; these became known as primary schools and secondary schools. In some parts of the United States, "primary school" refers to a school covering kindergarten through to second grade or third grade (K through 2 or 3); the "elementary school" includes grade three through five or grades four to six. In Canada, "elementary school" almost everywhere refers to Grades 1 through 6; with Kindergarten being referred to as "preschool." Though often used as

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