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Darbi Bauman, principal of South Nodaway R-IV Elementary School in Guilford, was standing outside her office Wednesday morning trying to talk to some of her staff. It would have been easier to do if she could have stopped crying.
"It's been a little emotional around here," said Guilford, who, about 24 hours earlier, learned that her 91-student K-6 school 20 miles southeast of Maryville had been named a 2009 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School.
Only 314 elementary schools were accorded Blue Ribbon status this fall by the U.S. Department of Education. Northwest Missouri had one other winner, Eugene Field Elementary in St. Joseph.
In most cases, the Blue Ribbon program honors both public and private schools whose students score in the top 10 percent on the Missouri Assessment Program examination (MAP). Schools where at least 40 percent of the students are considered disadvantaged can win if they demonstrate significant improvement on state or nationally normed tests. Missouri Blue Ribbon schools must also meet the state’s annual targets for adequate yearly progress, known as AYP.
This was the second year in a row that South Nodaway Elementary has been recognized for excellence under the federal No Child Left Behind guidelines. Last year, the school received the top-level state award, known as the Gold Star, from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
"We told our kids that the Gold Star was like winning state in football," Bauman said. "But this is like winning the Super Bowl."
South Nodaway students joined Bauman and their teachers in the school's tiny gymnasium Wednesday morning for a celebration that included a balloon release and boxes containing blue ribbons for each "posse" of students. A posse contains six to eight students from various grades and is headed by a teacher "sheriff" and a sixth-grade "deputy sheriff."
Middle schoolers from nearby Barnard were invited to the assembly because they had attended the elementary school during the three-year Blue Ribbon assessment process. Several of the older students had dyed their hair, skin and clothing Longhorn blue and white.
"It's especially rewarding that a small school won," Bauman said. "You always read about the big schools winning, and we just don't have the perks they have. This is recognition that our kids, staff and parents are doing what we're supposed to be doing with what we have to work with."
Bauman said the district's formula for teaching its children well is a simple one -- always put the students first.
"We are successful because we focus on what is best for our children," she said. "That's the way it always is, from the school board on down to our support staff -- everybody in the district."
Darbi Bauman, principal of South Nodaway R-IV Elementary School in Guilford, was standing outside her office Wednesday morning trying to talk to some of her staff. It would have been easier to do if she could have stopped crying.
"It's been a little emotional around here," said Guilford, who, about 24 hours earlier, learned that her 91-student K-6 school 20 miles southeast of Maryville had been named a 2009 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School.
Only 314 elementary schools were accorded Blue Ribbon status this fall by the U.S. Department of Education. Northwest Missouri had one other winner, Eugene Field Elementary in St. Joseph.
In most cases, the Blue Ribbon program honors both public and private schools whose students score in the top 10 percent on the Missouri Assessment Program examination (MAP). Schools where at least 40 percent of the students are considered disadvantaged can win if they demonstrate significant improvement on state or nationally normed tests. Missouri Blue Ribbon schools must also meet the state’s annual targets for adequate yearly progress, known as AYP.
This was the second year in a row that South Nodaway Elementary has been recognized for excellence under the federal No Child Left Behind guidelines. Last year, the school received the top-level state award, known as the Gold Star, from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
"We told our kids that the Gold Star was like winning state in football," Bauman said. "But this is like winning the Super Bowl."
South Nodaway students joined Bauman and their teachers in the school's tiny gymnasium Wednesday morning for a celebration that included a balloon release and boxes containing blue ribbons for each "posse" of students. A posse contains six to eight students from various grades and is headed by a teacher "sheriff" and a sixth-grade "deputy sheriff."
Middle schoolers from nearby Barnard were invited to the assembly because they had attended the elementary school during the three-year Blue Ribbon assessment process. Several of the older students had dyed their hair, skin and clothing Longhorn blue and white.
"It's especially rewarding that a small school won," Bauman said. "You always read about the big schools winning, and we just don't have the perks they have. This is recognition that our kids, staff and parents are doing what we're supposed to be doing with what we have to work with."
Bauman said the district's formula for teaching its children well is a simple one -- always put the students first.
"We are successful because we focus on what is best for our children," she said. "That's the way it always is, from the school board on down to our support staff -- everybody in the district."
