Jul 19 2008
Evidence of Excellence Even in July
This past week I stopped by Central to check on some upgrades to the computer lab I teach in as well as to pick up Association mail. The trip was planned to be a quick stop over; just one of several errands for the day. Stopping by the mail room I ran into several teachers getting some copies made or checking their mail. I had conversations in the hall with a couple other teachers, spoke to one of our department chairman, our social worker and several of our counselors. Three hours later, I was still at Central. Then something occurred to me.
It was July.
There are many reasons schools succeed. Key among these is a dedicated staff of professional educators who epitomize leadership in education - even in July in a building with little air conditioning. Beyond the volume of dedicated staff in the sweltering classrooms of Central in the heat of July, evidence of this dedication and professionalism has once again come in the form of national recognition. Central was named as one of the top 1,300 public schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine, as well as one of only eleven National Schools of Character Winners awarded by The Character Education Partnership (CEP) of Washington, D.C.
Read on for details of this recognition…
Making the Newsweek top 1,300 effectively puts Central in the top 5% of all public schools nationally. The magazine ranks schools every year based on several criteria:
Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2007 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of the schools on the list have an index of at least 1.000; they are in the top 5 percent of public schools measured this way.
Central ranks 347th among this list of 1,300 top schools in the nation, and 6th in the state of Illinois. Our sister school, Hinsdale South, also made Newsweek’s list, and ranks 551st and 11th in the state (for state rankings, click here).
Being recognized as a National School of Character award winner is wonderful acknowledgment of the above and beyond efforts of Central teachers and staff like Jeanne Donaldson, Janelle Marconi, Lisa Bucciarelli, Assistant Principal Pam Bylsma, who chair several of Central’s CC! Committees. From the CEP press release (PDF):
The Character Education Partnership (CEP) has named 10 schools and one school district as 2008 National Schools of Character.
This year was a record-setting year for the National Schools of Character program. “We received the highest number of applications in history, and the strength of the applications surpassed that of any other year,” said CEP Executive Director, Joe Mazzola. “Therefore, the selection of winners was the toughest yet.”
[…]
The NSOC application process requires extensive reporting, documentation, and assessment of each school or district’s culture, academics, and character education programs. CEP’s Blue Ribbon Panel, consisting of experts in the field of character education, considered the written applications and site visit reports of 25 finalists to determine the 11 winners.
It is the dedication of professional educators like our Character Counts! Coordinator Pam Kalafut, who’s devoted over 30 years of her career to making a positive, sustaining difference in the culture of our school, that make this type of national recognition possible.
