Area elementary school wins its first Blue Ribbon
Kolling Elementary School receiving a National Blue Ribbon Schools award for the first time was an honor, said Principal Cassandra Cruz.
Kolling is one of eight Indiana schools to receive the award, which gives schools recognition for academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.
“We’re always looking for great schools to mimic and model to make sure that we’re giving our kids the very best that’s out there,” Cruz said. “To be one of the schools that others have the opportunity to look to was definitely a great honor and a humbling experience for us to have.”
Kolling was nominated by the state earlier this year and was recognized in the exemplary high performing school category, which means they are among Indiana’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Education.
After receiving the nomination, Cruz said, a committee at Kolling began an application process and had to put together an 18-page school profile.
Jennifer Havens-Rodriguez, dean of students at the elementary school, was part of the committee working on the application and said it took a collaborative effort to not only put the application together, but also to receive the nomination and award.
“We worked very hard as a team,” Havens-Rodriguez said. “I always say that it takes a village to raise a child and at Kolling it takes a village to educate a child … I feel like we all work together as a team, we all figure out a way to do more with less in this era of education.”
A team of nine worked together on the application process, which took a good amount of time, said fourth grade teacher Michelle Vogt.
Vogt, who teaches high ability fourth graders, said she helped with different areas of the application and focused on explaining what Kolling does for overachieving students.
“It was a lot of work,” Vogt said. “I was surprised at how in-depth it went, and how much time it actually took for the committee to work on it.”
Vogt said when she first saw Kolling had received the award, she remained calm and double checked, just in case she had read wrong. She didn’t want to get her hopes up and then be disappointed.
“It was pretty exciting,” Vogt said. “To know that
award happens because of not only the teachers, but also the students and the parents involvement, and the community involvement — it is truly an honor for not only the district and the school, but the community as well.”
Erin Cook, a new kindergarten teacher at Kolling, was also one of the teachers that helped with the application process. Cook said though she’s new to the school, she wanted to help in any way she could, so she assisted with the writing and editing of the application, among other things.
“We jotted down ideas that we could talk about that people may not know about Kolling,” Cook said. “It was through that process I thought, ‘oh my gosh, this is pretty incredible.’ This is an amazing school, a really great school community to be a part of.”
Kelly Horton, a first grade teacher at Kolling who has been with the school for 22 years, also worked on the application and said receiving the award had a lot to do with teachers, administrators, students and families working together.
“I’m just really proud of Kolling, because I think we use a lot of team work to be successful,” Horton said. “It takes a lot of different people working as a team.”
The 2020 National Blue Ribbon Schools Awards Ceremony will be held virtually Nov. 12 and Nov. 13 to recognize the 317 public and 50 non-public schools that were given the award.
Cruz said Kolling will have a celebration on the days of the virtual ceremony, and they will have food, a bulletin board and shirts, among other things with social distancing in play.
“Obviously, we’re not able to assemble,” Cruz said, “But we do plan to have a group of teachers to view that live ceremony, as well as have some way for the school to celebrate on the day we are recognized nationally by the U. S. Department of Education.”
The National Blue Ribbons Schools Program is in its 38th year, and schools are eligible for nomination after five years, according to the press release.
“I’m proud of us,” Horton said. “I can’t wait for the community to know, and for Indiana to know about Kolling, because we do a lot of great things for kids here. We put kids first, and what’s in their best interest. That helps us, I think, be more successful — we’re always trying to do what’s best for kids.