CONGRATULATIONS !! ~Pocomoke Elementary School~

Written by
Brian Shane
Staff Writer
POCOMOKE CITY — Pocomoke Elementary School has been named a National Blue Ribbon School, the only school on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to receive the designation.

“We have been waiting for this exciting news,” Principal Michael Browne said Friday. “Our entire school family has worked so hard to prepare our students for success; they are phenomenal.”

The schools are recognized on the basis of rigorous state and national requirements for high achievement and dramatic improvement.

Tests showed 100 percent of Pocomoke Elementary’s third grade students were “proficient” in mathematics, with 78 percent deemed “advanced.” Also, 97.4 percent of third graders were “proficient” in reading, with 41 percent “advanced.”

In January, the school was named a Maryland Blue Ribbon School for having a track record of high student achievement, as measured by the Maryland School Assessment tests.

Shortly after receiving the state designation, the Maryland State Department of Education submitted Pocomoke Elementary School for national consideration.

“In order to earn the National Blue Ribbon School designation, a school must believe that every child can and will achieve and that every child can successfully rise to meet new challenges,” said Worcester Schools Superintendent Jerry Wilson.

Pocomoke was among six Maryland schools nominated to receive the honor, and all of them received the national award.

They include: Crofton Meadows Elementary (Anne Arundel County), Woodholme Elementary (Baltimore County), Ring Factory Elementary (Harford County), Rachel Carson Elementary (Montgomery County) and Whitehall Elementary (Prince George’s County).

“All six of these schools stand as shining examples of Maryland public education, and we’re proud to share their work with the rest of the nation,” said State Superintendent Lillian M. Lowery. “We congratulate the students, teachers, administrators, parents and community members of these outstanding schools.”

The winning schools next will be invited to Washington to be honored by national officials.

Past Worcester County recipients of the National Blue Ribbon award include Ocean City Elementary, Showell Elementary, Snow Hill Elementary and Stephen Decatur Middle School.

According to Worcester County Schools spokeswoman Barb Witherow, Pocomoke Elementary was honored in 2011 as a National Title I Distinguished School for sustained student achievement.

It’s also the only school in Maryland to be recognized as a Panasonic National School Change Award Winner, demonstrating exemplary growth in overall student academic achievement for 2010, Witherow said.
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