WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — A local school has been recognized for its success in closing the achievement gap in education.
Friday, November 13th, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School was recognized for its 2020 Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing National Blue Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education. Thomas Jefferson was one of 7 schools nominated for the award by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction back in February. All 8 nominated schools were awarded the National Blue Ribbon by the U.S. Department of Education in September.
Thomas Jefferson Elementary Principle Brent Johnson says the school is humbled and proud to be a recipient of the award after a year-long process. Johnson explains the process included distilling data from several student subgroups to the Department of Education. “So the achievement gap they’re talking specifically about subgroups of students. Minorities, poverty, special education, and a variety of other indicators.
“So that data is aggregated between those subgroups and that’s how we fill out our application and qualify for this thing. Our data here specifically is really good. Obviously, we have done a wonderful job at closing some of those gaps that exist across the entire country. We do a good job of closing those here and getting kids to their goals regardless of where they started or where they came from. That is something that makes us very proud.”
Thomas Jefferson is the first school in the Wausau School District to win the award at the national level since its inception in 1982. Only two other public schools in the Central Wisconsin area have been recognized for the award in recent years, Mountain Bay Elementary in the D.C. Everest School District and Bannach Elementary School in the Stevens Point Area School District. Nationally, 300 public schools were recognized with a National Blue Ribbon Award.
Johnson says Thomas Jefferson Elementary is able to help its students achieve their goals by staff and the community has one common goal in mind. “The staff works so hard here. We work together, everyone is on for the same goal. Our parents and our community and our students, everybody gives us 100% every day. And that’s really where the magic is that everybody coming together has tremendous results. And I’m so proud of that.
“I hope that we can continue to build upon that and then keep going higher and higher every year in our performance and our ability to help students grow and prepare for middle school and change their lives. I mean that’s why we do it, why we work so hard is to see kids get out of poverty or go to college or be successful in middle and high school, get to their careers and grow. It’s just so rewarding. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us all.”
Thomas Jefferson Elementary was recognized with the Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Blue Ribbon award during a virtual awards ceremony on Friday afternoon. You can view the awards ceremony at the U.S. Department of Education’s website, www.nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov.
