‘REMEMBER THIS MOMENT’

By Steven Goode

VERNON — When Congressman Joe Courtney visited Northeast School in Vernon on Thursday, he didn’t need GPS to find the neighborhood school.

That’s because Courtney used to live just down the street in the mid-1990s and frequently walked his son Bobby to school in the mornings.

“It was a welcoming, tight-knit community,” Courtney said as he entered the side entrance of the school.

“It still is,” replied assistant schools superintendent Robert Testa.

Courtney was at the school to deliver the gift of a flag that has flown over the nation’s capitol and to congratulate students and staff on its recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School. Northeast was one of four in the state and only 364 in the country to receive the honor.

The award recognizes academic excellence, as well as progress in closing the achievement gap between white and minority students.

“I know very well how intensely competitive it is to get this recognition,” Courtney, who is a member of the education committee in the House of Representatives, told a fifth-grade class. “Remember this moment. It’s a very rare thing.”

Afterward, Courtney stood in the hallway outside the school cafeteria and unfolded the flag before posing for pictures with a group of students who helped him hold it. Caleb Asiedu, a fifth-grader, was among them.

“It took hard work from staff and students,” said Caleb, 10. “We had to make some sacrifices.”

Caleb was also proudly wearing a face mask that recognized Northeast being recognized as a Blue Ribbon School. The students received the masks Wednesday following a visit Tuesday with Desi Nesmith, the state Department of Education’s deputy commissioner.

“It’s better than my mask,” he said.

Nesmith said Thursday that the recognition for Northeast and Norton School in Cheshire, George Henry Robertson School in Coventry and South Street School in Danbury is a testament to the tremendous effort of the schools.

“It really highlights the hard work by so many in these schools and communities,” Nesmith said. “All of that hard work has resulted in tangible improved student outcomes, and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”

Northeast Principal Brenda Greene said the school has been among the top performing schools in the state in recent years, but the National Blue Ribbon designation came as a surprise anyway because it is not something a school can apply for.

“It wasn’t even on the radar,” she said.

But Greene does think about what has been at the heart of the school’s success for many years, including winning Blue Ribbon recognition 30 years ago.

“We’re very proactive. We give the kids what they need when they need it,” she said. “It’s about the relationships and community we’ve built here.”