By JACKIE HANUSEY
Staff Writer

LINWOOD – Seaview Elementary School has been designated one of the 320 No Child Left Behind – Blue Ribbon Schools of 2008.

“I received a call from the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday,” Principal Susan Speirs said. “They asked me if I was the principal of Seaview, and when I said yes they said, ‘You are also the principal of a Blue Ribbon School.’”

Linwood School Superintendent Thomas A. Baruffi said the timing couldn’t have been better to learn they received “the most prestigious honor in education” with back to school night scheduled for that evening.

“It is like winning the Grammy, Oscar, Emmy and Tony all in one” to an educator, Speirs said.

The Blue Ribbon program was started in 1982 to recognized America’s most successful schools. Seaview was one of only nine schools nominated by the state Department of Education in December. During the winter Speirs completed a lengthy application which the state estimated would take 39 hours.

“You don’t just become a Blue Ribbon school overnight,” Baruffi said, noting that students’ consistent test scores likely helped the school receive the nomination.

During the 2006-2007 school year 99.5 percent of students scored proficient or higher in mathematics and 97.9 percent scored proficient or higher in language arts.

One program has helped the school reach its high reading scores, Baruffi said.

As principal in 1999, he started to the Aspire Reading Program with director of special education and special programs Jill Yochim. Baruffi said the program helps identify students’ needs and progresses them at a natural pace based on their competence level, allowing them individual time and to work in small groups as teachers see fit.

The program has been a success especially among special education students and has helped continuity in reading between grade levels, he said.

Baruffi said the Lift Off program for kindergarten students helps identify students who need extra help, especially since students only attend for a half day.

“It gives some students an extra half an hour to 45 minutes and a little more individual attention,” the superintendent said.

This year the 500-student school is implementing a new reading series with Harcourt Story Town.

“Whenever there is an innovation or anything new to enhance instruction we do that and we are always encouraged to do so,” said veteran Seaview teacher Barbara Quinn, who will accompany Speirs to Washington, D.C. in October to receive the honor.

Quinn was amongst the first group of district teachers to complete their master’s degrees in instructional technology from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

Quinn, who for the past 22 years has taught foreign languages and reading, said the school just keeps getting better.

“Everybody cares about doing the best possible job they can do,” she said.

She said when she came to the district to teach French, most public elementary schools had no foreign languages in their curriculum.

Speirs said the students, staff, parents and the Board of Education make up the four parts of the rectangle of the school community.

“These four all come together to make our school a success.”

Baruffi said the Linwood Education Foundation, Parent Teacher Organization and Education Affairs Committee are active and contribute to the overall learning environment.

“We look at this as a community award,” Baruffi said. “It really is a community school with tremendous support from parents, the mayor, City Council and the community.”