GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Two city charter schools and three city public schools were among just 20 schools in the state and fewer than 300 nationwide that today found out they earned “Blue Ribbon” status from the U.S. Department of Education.

The designation is given annually to schools in each state that meet certain performance standards. It does not bring any financial rewards, but it considered a feather in the cap for schools that earn it. Schools that win get a plaque and are expected to share their strategies for success.

To be nominated, schools must have top scores on state tests. They must also not have any achievement gaps within their student bodies. And after they are nominated, they must complete lengthy applications that includes short essays about their curriculum, their leadership, and how they measure success. New York State was allowed to nominate 19 schools.

The five city winners are Bronx Charter School for Excellence, P.S. 34 in Brooklyn, P.S. 191 in Queens, P.S. 203 in Queens, and Harlem Success Academy 1. This was the first year that any city charter schools took home the honor. (more…)

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake. The death of a parent. Physical disability. Algebra 2.

Those are just some of the obstacles faced by 193 members of the class of 2012 who convened on Tweed Courthouse last week for a reception of Remarkable Recipient Award winners. Each high school principal can nominate one student for the award, now in its sixth year.

GothamSchools spoke with some of the honorees at the event to find out what helped them through their toughest times — and what academic work will stick with them even as high school fades into the past.

Tashelle Woods, School of Legal Studies, Brooklyn

Tashelle Woods is not only the first in her family to go to college, but the first to graduate from high school, and maybe even complete the ninth grade. Woods suffered the loss of both parents and five half-siblings, and she also endured myriad health problems, including lymphedema, asthma, and a cancerous mass on her thyroid. Undaunted, this fall, she will attend Alpharetta State College in Georgia, where she plans to study biology or health science. Inspired by her own doctors, she aims to be a pediatrician or a pediatric nurse.

What helped her through her toughest times: “My doctors are my outlet for me. I’m very comfortable around them. They made this whole process of me recovering and getting diagnosed with different things easier. Growing up it was just my mother — I call her my mother, but she’s my grandmother — and she’s 69 right now, so a lot of things, she was not up to par about, she didn’t have knowledge about. (more…)

If there were value-added evaluations for education journalism, GothamSchools would be in for a fall.

Fortunately, we learned recently that small year-to-year changes among top performers can sometimes cause outsized variation in value-added scores. That’s why we’re thrilled and not disappointed to be a second-place winner in a national competition for education journalism.

The Education Writers Association announced the winners of its 2011 contest on Thursday, and GothamSchools won second prize in the journalism blogging category. We had taken home the first-place prize in each of the first two years that the association awarded prizes for online journalism.

This year’s first-place blog winner was StateImpact Florida, a nonprofit news site about education that is produced by National Public Radio and three affiliate stations in Florida. The association also awarded a special citation to the staff of the Philadelphia Public School Notebook for their coverage of Philadelphia’s cheating scandal.

GothamSchools thrives because it operates as a team, and nine people helped make us great in 2011. (more…)