EAST BRUNSWICK — The Board of Education recently celebrated a special honor: the bestowing of a Blue Ribbon LighthouseAward on Robert Frost Elementary School.
Frost officially received the national award for demonstrating exemplary academic achievement during the annual Blue Ribbon Schools’ Blueprint for Excellence Conference, held in December in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. But the township’s school board took time out of its Jan. 6 meeting to acknowledge the school’s feat.
“We are very proud of the excellence in all of our schools, and we are proud to list Frost among our now nine Blue Ribbon schools,” said Superintendent of Schools Jo Ann Magistro. “We’ve always known that Frost is an excellent school with an excellent staff, but now everyone knows.”
Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Inc. is a nonprofit educational organization committed to ensuring that all students achieve their highest potential by providing EAST schools with measurable and sustainable solutions. The organization gives out the award annually to schools across the country based on their performance in categories ranging from school organization and culture to indicators of student success.
East Brunswick already held the distinction of possessing the most Blue Ribbon schools in the state before Frost was added to the list. Bowne-Munro, Chittick, Irwin, Lawrence Brook and Warnsdorfer elementary schools, Hammarskjold Middle School, Churchill Junior High School and East Brunswick High School have received the honor in past years.
Frost was one of only nine schools in the nation to receive the accolade in 2010.
ABlue Ribbon evaluator spent two days at the school, becoming familiar with its day-to-day operations. While the evaluator noted several exemplary practices, he was struck by the school’s use of data to shape curriculum, Frost Principal Beth Warren said.
“He was very impressed with many things he saw, especially the way we use data to differentiate instruction for our students,” she said. “We were asked to share our successes at the conference in Florida, and were able to teach our methods to educators from across the globe.”
In a video made for the conference and shown at the recent school board meeting,
Warren explained the data process used to
“paint a picture of each student as a learner.”
Frost uses a method of tracking student progress that includes online profiles of a student’s past achievement and current instructional levels. The student profile includes end-of-year math tests, a running record level, on-demand writing scores, and, for grades three through five, standardized test scores.
Before the school year begins, teachers access these profiles to plan for the year, identifying students who may need additional support to BRUNSWICK achieve proficiency and students who could receive advanced proficiency. The data is also used to structure lessons, accommodate an individual’s instructional level and identify each student’s strengths and weaknesses. Since the data is continuously updated, the teachers hold grade-level meetings to analyze the assessment data, consult with each other about student progress, and develop strategies to improve progress. The nature of the evolving data also allows teachers to change the educational structure in order to meet student needs.
Teachers and administrators are continually coached on assessments and instruction differentiation through ongoing professional development, grade-level meetings, faculty meetings, district professional development and school-based professional learning communities. Math and reading specialists are also on hand for support.
Frost involves parents in the education process, offering training at parent volunteer meetings so that they can assist children with math and reading. Each week, teachers select individual students to work with parents on specific skills.
“A Blue Ribbon school doesn’t happen overnight. It takes commitment, dedication, talent and passion. It takes a ‘whatever it takes’ approach in the best interest of students, and that’s what we do at Frost School,” Warren said. “The people I work with demonstrate these characteristics every single day.”
School board members praised Frost for its accomplishments, with some crediting its sense of community.
“Through the years I spent at Frost, I was so lucky to spend time with the staff, administration and parents,” said board member Holly Howard, whose daughter entered Frost as a kindergartener in 1985. “It truly was a family, and I can see that it’s still that way today. I credit the love I have for this district with being a part of that Frost family.”
Board member Katie Speigler also experienced Frost as a parent, with her children entering the school in 1995.
“I have to agree that there’s a great family there. I was able to work with all of these wonderful people,” she said. “This is so long overdue. I guess we were the best-kept secret that there was.”
Magistro, who formerly served as principal of Frost, expressed her delight about the recent honor.
“You don’t get a Blue Ribbon school from one or two people. It’s really the talents and accomplishments of all the staff,” she said. “In many of these cases, schools aren’t awarded the first year they apply. It’s really an award they give you to improve. But when evaluators told me that this was, without a doubt, the best school they have ever seen, I was so very proud of all of you.”