MEMORANDUM

TO: The Honorable Members of the State Board of Education

FROM: Joy Hofmeister, Superintendent of Public Instruction

DATE: January 26, 2017

SUBJECT: 2016 Blue Ribbon Schools Recipients and Terrel H. Bell Award Recipient

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program confers national recognition on elementary, middle, and high schools whose students achieve at very high levels. The Program sets a standard of excellence for all schools striving for the highest level of achievement.

Four Oklahoma schools have met the 2016 requirements of the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program and are to be commended for their hard work, efforts, and dedication to the students of Oklahoma.

The Terrel H. Bell Award recognizes outstanding school leaders and the vital role they play in guiding students and schools to excellence, frequently under challenging circumstances.

Ms. Robbie Holder, Principal, L. Mendel Rivers Elementary School, Altus Public Schools, is a 2016 Terrel H. Bell recipient.

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Attachments

Four Oklahoma schools named to National Blue Ribbon Schools list

OKLAHOMA CITY (September 30, 2016) – The U.S. Department of Education this week

named four Oklahoma public schools 2016 National Blue Ribbon Schools for their academic

excellence.

Oklahoma’s 2016 National Blue Ribbon Schools are Booker T. Washington High School

(Tulsa Public Schools), L. Mendel Rivers Elementary School in Altus (Altus Public Schools),

Northwood Elementary School in Piedmont (Piedmont Public Schools) and Sadler Arts

Academy in Muskogee (Muskogee Public Schools).

“The annual National Blue Ribbon Schools designation acknowledges the very best of our

nation’s schools,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister. “We are

thrilled to recognize the accomplishments of each of these exceptional schools. Doors to the

highest levels of learning can only be opened when communities of learners, teachers,

administrators, staff, parents and others collaborate to achieve the highest outcomes for all

students.

“We are at a crossroads in Oklahoma education. The challenges are many; the opportunities

even greater. The schools we are recognizing this year should serve as examples for us as

we work together to champion excellence in Oklahoma schools. We are proud of their

accomplishments and grateful for the work they do every day to lift student outcomes and

build a strong future for Oklahoma.”

The U.S. Department of Education named 329 National Blue Ribbon Schools this year. All

will be honored in a ceremony Nov. 7-8 in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Communications & Outreach, Press Office

400 Maryland Ave., S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20202

FOR RELEASE: Oct. 20, 2016

CONTACT: Press Office, (202) 401-1576 or press@ed.gov

Education Secretary King Announces Recipients of the 2016 Terrel H. Bell Awards for

Outstanding School Leadership

U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King today announced the 2016 recipients of the Terrel H.

Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership. The eight principals from the 2016 cohort of

National Blue Ribbon Schools will be honored with the Terrel H. Bell Award at an awards

ceremony on Monday, Nov. 7th

at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.

“The Bell Award recognizes principals who are transformational leaders. They inspire greatness

in their students, in their teachers, and in their communities,” King said. “Winning a Bell Award

is a small acknowledgment of the tireless work these principals have done in their effort to create

positive school cultures where teachers are empowered and all students, regardless of

background, can and do succeed.”

Named for the second U. S. Secretary of Education, the award honors school leaders who are

committed to education as a powerful and liberating force in people’s lives. They are principals

who foster successful teaching and learning and help their students and teachers meet high

standards. The Bell Award is part of the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Principals are

nominated by their school communities during the final stages of the National Blue Ribbon

Schools application process.

The U.S. Department of Education, together with the National Association of Elementary School

Principals, the Association for Middle Level Education, and the National Association of

Secondary School Principals present the Terrel H. Bell Awards to principals of National Blue

Ribbon Schools for their outstanding work and the vital role they play in guiding their students

and schools to excellence, frequently under challenging circumstances.

The 2016 recipients are:

Judy Armstrong, St. Thomas More Catholic School, Baton Rouge, LA. Three weeks

into her term as principal, Armstrong opened St. Thomas More’s doors to 440 students

who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina, an unanticipated population shift that required

the school to quickly grapple with new ways to reach students.

Berta Fogerson, Margaret Talkington School for Young Women Leaders, Lubbock,

Texas. Fogerson’s determination to hold students, staff, and herself to the highest

standards has resulted in a 100% graduation rate and 100% of Talkington students

accepted into four-year colleges.

Pamela Hogue, Weiner Elementary School, Weiner, Ark. Guided by a belief that a

school’s climate and culture affect every aspect of student life, Hogue expanded the

school’s gifted and talented program to include the entire school, raising the academic

performance of all students.

Robbie Holder, L. Mendel Rivers Elementary School, Altus, Okla. Despite Rivers’

exceptionally high student mobility rate, the rigorous expectations and student

supports instituted by Holder have made it one of the top performing schools in the

state.

Stephen D. Marquis, Sea Road School, Kennebunk, Maine. Marquis’s own academic

struggles as a child provide him with a sense of obligation to find innovative ways to

inspire and challenge students and to advocate for their families.

Sheila Sydnor, Penn Alexander School, Philadelphia, Pa. Sydnor’s leadership provided

the foundation of Penn Alexander School from the beginning, and it is now recognized as

the highest performing K-8 school in the district despite 100% of students eligible for

free/reduced price meals.

Tarkan Topcuoglu, Central Jersey College Prep Charter School, Somerset, N.J. Under

Topcuoglu’s leadership, Central Jersey College Prep went from a school where fewer

than 50% of students reached proficiency in ELA to a school with a 100% graduation

rate.

A special Lifetime of Leadership award will be given to:

Cynthia Kalogeropoulos, Grove Avenue Elementary School, Barrington, Ill. Under her

31 years of leadership, Grove Avenue Elementary has won three National Blue Ribbon

School awards.

Brief summaries of each recipient’s work are available at

http://www.ed.gov/nationalblueribbonschools.

Robbie Holder: L. Mendel Rivers Elementary School, Altus, OK

As a school that serves mostly students from military families, L. Mendel Rivers Elementary faces a unique set of challenges. Student turnover at the school has been as high as 41%, and students may enter the school at any point in the year, frequently with

wildly disparate educational backgrounds. Besides their academic needs, students from military families often have additional social and emotional needs that must be addressed as well. Mrs. Robbie Holder rises to the challenge of serving this student population with a leadership philosophy that can be summed up in two words: respect and expectations. She must be respectful not just of her staff, students, and their families, but also of their ideas and differences and the practices that best serve them. Expectations should be high and clear, and they should focus on the success of students and the school.

The students at Rivers come from families where moving from state to state and even country to country is normal, as is having a parent leave for a deployment and living with the uncertainty of when they will return. For staff, it is normal to discover that their students must play catch-up because they transferred from districts that are behind Rivers academically, and it is normal to find their students crying in the middle of the school day because they miss their mom or dad. For all these reasons, Mrs. Holder has designed a school where the curriculum, instructional programs, and counseling services target student needs on an individual basis and the staff work closely with students and their families.

To meet academic goals, all students entering Rivers are assessed within their first week. Afterward, Mrs. Holder and her team meet with parents to facilitate a conversation about where each child is educationally. She reviews assessment data, explains what the expectations are, and finally brings everyone on board

with what the school and the family need to do to help that child meet Rivers’ high expectations.

On an emotional and social level, Mrs. Holder’s role is equally important. Students at Rivers are often under a lot of stress. It is important for them and their families to feel that they are a part of the school culture as soon as they enter the door—a welcoming atmosphere that Mrs. Holder strives to create. When students struggle, she works directly with parents to come up with a plan. As a result, parent engagement at Rivers is high. Mrs. Holder makes it a point to celebrate every child and their unique situations, whether by helping plan a special reunion for a deployed mom to surprise her children or coming into the classroom to check on students in need. For Mrs. Holder, it’s all part of creating an environment where students feel safe and eager to learn.

Recently, Mrs. Holder also took on moving a school from good to great. Too many underperforming students were being left behind while others were not being challenged to reach their potential. Mrs. Holder began holding conferences with individual teachers, examining classroom and student data. From that exercise, she and her teachers devised a data-driven plan to move students in the bottom 25% to a higher level and enhance learning for above-level students. Students who were behind received extra help and resources, and class schedule adjustments and additional resources were made available for students who were above level.

Thanks to Mrs. Holder’s efforts, Rivers has become an excellent school. The school recently received an A+ on the Oklahoma State Report Card, was named a High Performing School by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, and was named the fifth best school in the state of Oklahoma. But perhaps the work of Mrs. Holder is best summed up in a quote from one of her student’s parents who was being deployed : “I knew that my girls would be taken care of at school and that whatever they needed emotionally would be given by this staff at Rivers.“

2016 TERREL H. BELL RECIPIENT Robbie Holder

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