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052298 Blue ribbon for Fox Lane
BY EMMA
BLADEN
It's true. Fox Lane High School, in Bedford Central School District, has been judged as one of the nation's best.
On Tuesday, May 19, the school received notice that it had
been named as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. This is a prestigious honor
which this year was awarded to only 166 high schools in the United States, and
was vigorously sought by thousands.
Principal of Fox Lane High School, Richard Kraemer, said on Wednesday that the school was bursting with pride. "It has brought smiles to everyone," he said. Mr. Kraemer said he first knew of Fox Lane's honor when a staff member from the office of Congresswoman Sue Kelly phoned the school with the news. "I wasn't in my office at the time because I was observing a class," Mr. Kraemer said. "When I returned my secretary looked like she was going to burst open." After Mr. Kraemer heard the news he said he contacted Superintendent of Bedford Central School District Bruce Dennis and members of the committee that worked on the application, and then announced it over the public address system to teachers and students. "I said to the students over the PA, `Isn't it great that what we always felt was true has been validated by two outside agencies?,"' Mr. Kraemer said. "I told them it was cause for dancing, and some of the teachers told me the students did take the opportunity to get up on their chairs and do just that."
Mr. Kraemer said the school would be officially notified on Friday. "It's really great we found out when we did because we will be closed on Friday," he said. "It would have been awful to find out on Tuesday the news had been sitting there for four days.
Mr. Kraemer said this was the first time Fox Lane High School had applied for Blue Ribbon status. "The middle school received Blue Ribbon status in the 1980s, during Principal Robert Mackin's time," Mr. Kraemer said. "But this was the first time Fox Lane High School entered. Given the nature of the process, I don't know the school could muster the energy to do this too often."
Mr. Kraemer said the application had involved about 60 people. A document had to be prepared to highly specific guidelines, he said. "The process was very draining. But it kept bringing in all this evidence to us that said `Hey, we've got a great school."'
Mr. Kraemer said on Wednesday that the school was awaiting eagerly to hear if its music and arts program had also been awarded Blue Ribbon status. Each year the U.S. Education Department nominates one area of education schools can elect to have considered for the "special emphasis" Blue Ribbon award, Mr. Kraemer said.
"This year they nominated music and the arts, and we felt
we would be remiss in not applying for it," Mr. Kraemer said. There was also
another major reason for Fox Lane High School to seek special recognition for
its music and arts program, Mr. Kraemer said.
"At the time we were doing this, (the late) Stuart Soffer (former director of music and the arts for Bedford Central) was dying of cancer," Mr. Kraemer said. "Stuart Soffer built this program, so that was the emotional motivation spurring us on. We were left with a three-page piece for the special emphasis award where we had to summarize the essence of our music and arts program. We worked all night to the crack of dawn and I drove to Albany to hand deliver it."
Mr. Kraemer said the school would be officially presented with its award for Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in November, at a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House. Three representatives of the school had been invited to attend, which would be himself, Dr. Dennis and the school's foreign Language Department Chairman Marcia Schenker, who played a key role in the Blue Ribbon application process, Mr. Kraemer said.
At the ceremony, Mr. Kraemer said the trio would be given a plaque and a banner in recognition of the school's award, which would be hung at the school at a later ceremony.
Fox Lane High School received notification of its Blue Ribbon School of Excellence status on an auspicious day for the school district. Tuesday, May 19, was also the day district residents voted on the budget, which was passed, and elected three board of education members (see related stories).
At the district's board of education meeting on Tuesday evening, Dr. Dennis announced that earlier that day the district had been notified of its award via fax from Mrs. Kelly's office. Dr. Dennis' announcement was met with thunderous applause.
Dr. Dennis read aloud part of the letter the Congresswoman had received from the assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.
"The Department of Education is pleased to announce the selection of 166 secondary schools in the United States to be presented with the prestigious Blue Ribbon Schools Award," Dr. Dennis read from the letter. "Blue Ribbon Schools have been judged as particularly effective in meeting local state and national goals. These goals also display the qualities of excellence that are necessary to prepare our young people for the challenges of the next century.
Criteria for the Blue Ribbon status include strong leadership, a clear vision and sense of mission; high quality teaching; challenging, up-todate curriculum; policies and practices that ensure a safe environment conducive to learning; solid evidence
of family involvement; evidence that the school helps all students to achieve higher standards; and a commitment to share best practices with other schools.
Dr. Dennis said the achievement was wonderful recognition for Fox Lane High School. "It also is the outgrowth of both an extensive amount of work that Dick Kraemer has led in the six years he's been here to bring us to this status and the work done by our faculty, support staff and students," Dr. Dennis said.
Mr. Kraemer said at the meeting that the award was not the result of the efforts of one person, or even a small group. "The community deserves much of the praise for supporting what we've been doing in the school, and it didn't just happen in six years," he said. "We've been dedicated to reform and improvement for a long time. We have a community that supports us and a faculty that makes it happen and students that make it all happen... This is a wonderful validation. We are bursting with pride, and we hope that you share that pride."
Outgoing board of education member Robert Frisch said, "Many of us, myself included, are often quick to point out the flaws in the system and what we need to work on," he said. "I think it's important in this case, this is something that really is quite special. It really is outside recognition for our high school and performance of our high school, and I just don't want it to go unheeded."
"It has brought smiles to everyone. I wasn't in
my office at the time because I was observing a
class. When I returned my secretary looked
like she was going to burst open."
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RICHARD KRAEMER, PRINCIPAL, Fox LANE HIGH SCHOOL