January 12 was a “Blue Ribbon” day for Oakland Elementary School. At that day’s meeting of the Carroll County School Board, Oakland was congratulated by the Board and presented with a plaque for being named a 2009 National Blue Ribbon School, an honor given to only 314 schools nationwide last year. Beverly Parker, Carroll County Director of School Improvement, Accountability and Testing, heaped the praise on the work done by Junior Gentry’s faculty, staff, parents and students. “This is a significant accomplishment for any public or private school,” Parker said. “In addition to being honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., where each school receives a plaque and a flag signifying their status, these schools serve as models for other schools throughout the nation.” In order to qualify for Blue Ribbon status, schools must be either academically superior or demonstrate dramatic gains in achievement to high levels. High performing schools must place in the top 10 percent of schools in the state on assessments in reading and math with results of each subgroup similar to all students tested. Dramatically improved schools have to have a minimum of 40 percent of students from “disadvantaged backgrounds” and the school has to demonstrate a positive trend in test results from earliest to the last year reported. The achievement of the students in the highest grade has to place the school in the top 40 percent of schools in the state on assessments in reading and math for all students for each subgroup. “Oakland Elementary School is a prime example of a school that meets both criteria,” Parker said. Parker noted that Oakland’s SOL scores range from a “low” of 77 percent passing to a high of 100 percent passing in reading and math in grades 3 through 5. Grade 5 pass rates for reading and math topped out at 100 percent pass rates during the year of application. Parker noted that nearly three quarters of Oakland’s student population falls in the “disadvantaged background” category. “They do this in a collaborative spirit – they have a ‘we’ attitude,” Parker said. “’We can do this even with 73 percent of the students representing disadvantaged population, 15 percent of the students representing English language learners, 16 percent of the students with special needs other than limited English proficiency, and a student mobility rate of 16 percent – factors some say would negatively impact student performance on standardized tests. However, Oakland, her leadership, faculty, staff, students and parents prove once again that not only can all students learn, but they can achieve at the highest level.” Following Parker’s presentation, Parker called Gentry to the front of the assembly to receive Oakland’s Blue Ribbon plaque. “I don’t want to accept the award by myself because this is not a one-person award,” Gentry said. “I would like for all of our faculty and staff come here and have Dr. Smith make the presentation.”