NBC29Murray Elementary Receives Blue Ribbon for Achievement

Murray Elementary Receives Blue Ribbon for Achievement

Hard work and dedication have paid off for one Albemarle County school. It now has national recognition for hitting the books. 

Murray Elementary School has been named a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. Murray is one of seven public schools in Virginia to get that prestigious award.

The award honors schools nationwide for superior academic achievement and progress. Murray fits that quite well. It boasts a 97 percent pass rate for the English SOL's, and a 100 percent pass rate for math.

Murray Elementary School's principal, Dr. Andy Grider, tells NBC29 that at Murray they believe all students can succeed and that belief translates into achievement.  

"The take-away for them is that they can have pride in their school and in their community.  They can know that at Murray Elementary they'll get a great education, and that they have some measure of responsibility in giving back to our school and our community," said Grider.

The celebration for the award will start later this week when they give the students the news. Grider will take a teacher to Washington D.C. for the award ceremony in October. They'll bring back a big Blue Ribbon flag to hang high in their school.

Reported by Tracy Clemons
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Press Release:

Murray Elementary School Named NCLB Blue Ribbon School for 2008

(ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Virginia) - On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings named 320 schools nationwide as 2008 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools. Among them is Albemarle County's own Virginia L. Murray Elementary School, one of only seven public schools in the state and eleven total schools, public and private, in Virginia to earn this distinction.  

The No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Program 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. In addition to being honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC, where each school receives a plaque and flag signifying their status, these schools serve as models for other schools throughout the nation and details of their achievements are shared on the U. S. Department of Education's website. Murray Elementary representatives will attend the ceremony on October 20 in the nation's capital.

"We are proud of Murray Elementary's consistent achievement for all of its students, not only on these standardized assessments, but also on developing critical thinking, digital literacy, and other 21^st century skills," said Pam Moran, superintendent of schools. "For a school to achieve at this highest possible level takes a dedicated community of parents, students, faculty and people who value education and make it a priority that all children succeed. It's no wonder that Forbes magazine selected Albemarle County as one of the top 20 places in the nation to raise a family, another distinction that was based on the quality of our public schools." 

For public schools, the U.S. Secretary of Education invites states to nominate schools that meet the criteria for recognition as a Blue Ribbon School. Murray Elementary was selected by the Virginia Department of Education from among the commonwealth's more than a thousand schools. Nationwide, 74 percent of those nominated by their states were recognized by the federal government.

"Last year, Murray Elementary was selected as one of a handful of schools in Virginia for the Governor's Award for Education Excellence, and this year, that recognition of excellence has grown to nationwide distinction," Moran said. "There are achievements worth celebrating in classrooms around the county, and we believe Murray is representative of the best of what goes on in our schools."

Since 1982, the U. S. Department of Education's Blue Ribbon Schools Program has honored many of America's most successful schools.  A Blue Ribbon School flag waving overhead has become a trademark of excellence, a symbol of quality recognized by everyone from parents to policy-makers.  In 2002, the program was renewed to bring it in line with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. 

Criteria for High Performing Public Schools:

• § "High performing" means that the achievement of the school's students in the latest year tested places the school in the top 10 percent of schools in the state on state assessments of reading (or English language arts) and mathematics. Disaggregated results for student subgroups, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds, must be similar to the levels of all students tested.
• § The school must have made AYP as defined by the state for the past two years, including the year the school is nominated. The school must also make AYP in the year it receives the award.

Murray Elementary has a 97 percent pass rate for 2008 for the Standards of Learning English Performance, and a 100 percent pass rate for 2008 for mathematics performance. The Murray community will celebrate at the school's Back-to-School Night on September 15, and with a school-wide event in late October after the school representatives return from the national ceremony.