BLUE RIBBON LIGHTHOUSE SCHOOL AWARD

Howell Graves Preschool Winner Letter

Muscle Shoals City Schools Blue Ribbon Award

Muscle Shoals, AL,    March 13, 2008 – Howell Graves Preschool and Muscle Shoals High School in Muscle Shoals City Schools have been named Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools and will join other schools from across the United States in a banquet on Friday, December 12, 2008, during the annual Blue Ribbon Schools Blueprint for Excellence Conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for the awards ceremony. These schools were selected based on results from the Blueprint for Excellence assessment process designed to identify and recognize successful, comprehensive schools exhibiting a strong commitment to educational excellence for all students.
            Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools serve as a beacon of exemplary achievements and contributions to ensure successful educational experiences for all children by shining a positive light on America’s best schools and programs that work. Working together, education, business and government leaders have the ability to create an infrastructure that will provide a blueprint for excellence in education for all children, all schools and all states. Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools focus on locating successful best practices and programs that work in education to serve as a marker for schools that desire to be high performing beacons for our educational culture. Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools will shape the future of education by facilitating alliances and creating an environment of positive change for all schools.
            “It is our honor to recognize these schools that are ‘going above and beyond’ to meet the diverse needs of their students. It is this exemplary attitude that brings schools above the status quo by incorporating innovative techniques to overcome obstacles in educating all children.” Bart Teal, President/Founder, Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, Inc.

About the Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools Award Program
Celebrating the sixth year of recognizing exemplary schools, the Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools Award Program is brought to you by Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, Inc., and is not affiliated with any other award program. All K-12 public, private, charter, parochial, Department of Defense, and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools are eligible to participate. This national recognition program is designed to find “what’s right” about education and celebrate the successes of these schools. Award winners were selected based on results of the Blueprint for Excellence, a comprehensive school assessment designed to assist all schools at all levels of desired or needed improvement levels, and validated by site visit. The process assesses the quality of academic and instructional programs and assists in developing a school-wide action plan to ensure measurable student achievement. This positive, collaborative school reform process encompasses the entire learning community and leads to improvement. The criteria are based on a review of key educational elements, sustained success, and effectiveness of high performing schools, and are modeled after the U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Schools Program as it existed from 1982 to 2003.
Plans are being developed to expand the recognition of more schools in the next awards cycle.

About the Blue Ribbon Schools Blueprint for Excellence Conference
The Blue Ribbon Schools Blueprint for Excellence Conference highlights nationally-recognized schools and programs from across the country. The format of this conference provides a unique opportunity to interact with top educators sharing the best practices that have been successful for their schools. Key presenters include some of the top principals and teachers featuring best practices in America's best schools, including Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools. There will be special sessions highlighting NASA's educational initiatives, a model technology classroom featuring SMART Boards in interactive sessions using technology and best practices, school visits, and much more! This conference provides hands-on, interactive sessions and networking opportunities for educators to connect with these exemplary schools.

About Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, Inc.
Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization that administers this awards program and is dedicated to providing educational improvement opportunities for all schools and all children. Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence finds what is working in schools and shares this knowledge with all schools through school improvement initiatives and a Web-based interactive library of best practices. For more information, please visit www.blueribbonschools.com.