A ‘Blue Ribbon’ for Whitemarsh Elementary

The words on the sign in front of the school sum it up: the school is "someplace special."
 
Whitemarsh Elementary School was named a 2013 National Blue Ribbon School on Tuesday.

The school is one of 236 public schools and 50 private schools nationally to receive the honor, which was announced by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Locally speaking, Whitemarsh Elementary is one of just 15 schools in Pennsylvania to nab a ribbon and it is the only public school in Montgomery County to receive the honor this year; Ridge Park Elementary was named a Blue Ribbon School last year, according to a Colonial School District press release.

For a list of each school honored this year, including the 15 in Pennsylvania, click here.

“To have two of our schools receive this honor in consecutive years is an outstanding achievement for the Colonial School District,” Superintendent MaryEllen Gorodetzer said in a statement. “Receiving the nation’s highest education award is quite an accomplishment. To have Whitemarsh Elementary named a Blue Ribbon School this year reaffirms our philosophy that having the same rigorous and engaging instructional practice throughout the district makes all of our schools strong and gives all of our students the best education possible.”

Over the past five years, 95 to 100 percent of Whitemarsh Elementary students have scored at or above the proficient level in reading and mathematics on the Pennsylvania System of Schools Assessment, according to a Colonial School District press release. Last year, 99 percent of Whitemarsh Elementary students scored at the proficient or advanced level in math with 91 percent being advanced. The same year, 98 percent scored at the proficient or advanced level in reading. One hundred percent of WES students were proficient or advanced in reading the year before.

From the U.S. Department of Education website: ... the department requested nominations from the top education official in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. The Council for American Private Education (CAPE) nominates private schools. A total of 420 schools nationwide may be nominated, with allocations determined by the numbers of K-12 students and schools in each jurisdiction. The secretary of education invites nominated schools to submit an application for possible recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School.