True ‘blue’ schools

Never say that lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, at least not when referring to student achievement and Acadia Parish schools.
You see, it’s not everyday that a school district can boast two National Blue Ribbon schools nominees, but, this year, Acadia Parish does.
Of its six nominations, the Louisiana Department of Education has tagged two Acadia Parish schools — Martin Petitjean Elementary School (Rayne) and South Crowley Elementary School — for the national honor.
It isn’t a feat to scoff at, either. When Louisiana makes its nominations, it is choosing from schools of all grade levels, selective enrollment and non-selective enrollment. Being chosen from that field is rather minute chance, but two schools’ hard work being chosen for recognition in the same year is almost unheard of by those standards.
“You know what’s great about this? Look at the clientele you have” said Frances Touchet, Louisiana Department of Education network leader. “When people talk about free and reduced lunch and talk about ‘these kids can’t learn’ ... You’re proving that those kids can learn.
“It starts with leadership. If you put the good people in the right places, this is what happens. The difference from one school to another is not the kids; the difference from one school to another is about the leadership that happens at the school.”
For their side, the leadership at those schools that Touchet praises — Irma Trosclair, principal of South Crowley Elementary, and Kim Cummins, principal of Martin Petitjean Elementary — have been quick to applaud the work the students and teachers are doing day in and day out at the schools. The principals both were able to make the announcement to their schools this past week.
“It speaks volumes about the great work our teachers and staff at Martin Petitjean have done,” said Cummins. “They show up everyday and truly believe in and love these children, and they send the message not just verbally, but non-verbally as well, through their actions, that these children are incredibly capable and that they truly believe in all that they are going to be able to accomplish.
“I cannot say enough about the incredible work of our teachers in the classrooms, because that’s where the magic happens,” Cummins continued. “It’s truly where every single day, any minute you walk into our school, you’re going to see those teachers pushing those children, but making learning fun for them so that they want to be there.”
Cummins also explained that the work for the teachers begins before the school year at Martin Petitjean where each teacher, at the end of the summer, does “Homeroom Home Visits.”
The teacher brings a welcome packet to each home of the children in his or her homeroom and has a chance to get to know the children, their families and their home life before the school year begins.
“A lot of times the parents will invite them in and the kids are so excited,” she said. “It’s a great way for kids to get to know their teachers before school starts, the parents to get to know the teacher, but, also for the teacher to see the home lives of each child and really have a full understanding of where each child comes from each day.”
The same issues that face Cummins and Martin Petitjean, face Trosclair and South Crowley, and they, too, are proving that home life doesn’t have to dictate economic performance.
“Our student body at South Crowley would be considered an at-risk school, based on our socio-economic status, and because of good, effective teaching and because of teachers that believe in children and who accept nothing but their best, our children are thriving and blossoming,” said Trosclair, who was also named Elementary School Principal of the Year this year in the parish.
“We make sure that we have the best teachers in place; teachers that believe in children.”
Both elementary schools are helping create a new world of leaders through their participation in the Leader in Me program, which, for Cummins, has been an important part of the process.
“It’s really important that we view these children not just as kids who produce test scores, but as future human beings that will be running our community,” said Cummins. “We have to teach the whole child, we have to make sure that we can make them responsible adults.
“Our teachers have worked really hard implementing a program called ‘Leader in Me’. Our children are incredible. They learn the ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, starting all the way in (pre-kindergarten). Central Rayne Kindergarten starts the process out and does a fabulous job with it.”
For Trosclair and South Crowley, the school has been making sure that the future leaders are stepping onto the next level of education more prepared for it all.
“An elementary setting is just very key in the whole educational career of a child because, when they leave an elementary school, if they’re not on level, chances are they never will be,” said Trosclair. “Each year that a child is below level, it just gets harder and harder to remediate or to build on something.”
That work is definitely not going unnoticed now as Touchet pointed out.
“(The schools) have really looked at students and what their capabilities are and really tried to close that achievement gap.
“Both of these schools have really shown that it is possible, no matter what type of background, that kids can learn no matter what. We’re just happy from the Department of Education standpoint to say, ‘Look, schools, no matter what, we are focused on student achievement, and that’s what the ultimate goal should always be.”
National Blue Ribbon Schools are public and non-public elementary, middle and high schools that are producing outstanding results for all students.
There are two possible categories for public school nomination: exemplary high performing and exemplary achievement gap closing. It is for the latter that Martin Petitjean and South Crowley have earned the nominations of the Louisiana Department of Education.
The program has recognized over 7,500 schools in the country since its inception in 1982.
The United States Department of Education will be inviting schools to apply for recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School through an application process. In order to receive the Blue Ribbon award, schools must complete an approved application and achieve Adequate Yearly Progress in 2014-15.
Morse Elementary was nominated for the honor over a decade ago, the only other time an Acadia Parish school was tapped.
Other nominees from Louisiana this year include Baton Rouge Magnet High School and LSU Lab School in Baton Rouge; Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans and Pointe-aux-Chenes Elementary in Montegut.
BR Magnet High is a two-time past winner while Ben Franklin High is a three-time past winner. Both of these schools and LSU Lab feature selective enrollment; Pointe-aux-Chenes, meanwhile, like its elementary counterparts, are non-selective enrollment.