Blue Ribbon schools model excellence and equity. They
exhibit a strong commitment to educational excellence for all
students. The school's success in furthering the intellectual,
social, moral, and physical growth of all its students, including
those with disabilities and limited English skills, is a basic
consideration underlying the recognition criteria. In seeking
successful schools, the program welcomes both schools that have
demonstrated sustained success in achieving these values and schools
that have demonstrated significant improvements by overcoming
serious obstacles.
This year fifty elementary schools from across the state of
Michigan completed the rigorous Blue Ribbon application requiring
descriptions and proof of successes in the following eight criteria
areas:
- Student focus and support
- School organization and culture
- Challenging standards and curriculum
- Active teaching and learning
- Professional community
- Leadership and educational vitality
- School, family and community partnerships
- Indicators of success
Only nineteen of the fifty elementary schools were selected for
site visits by the Michigan Blue Ribbon Review Panel. The site
visit for Glengary took place on October 23, 2000. They
received an exemplary score and were officially validated on
November 8, 2000 as a state Blue Ribbon school. The Michigan
Department of Education has nominated and submitted Glengary's
application to the U.S. Department of Education where they now
aspire to win the National Blue Ribbon award.
Walled Lake Schools Serves
Nine Communities
The Walled Lake School District encompasses more than 55 square
miles and includes all or part of nine governmental units: The
cities of Farmington Hills, Novi, Orchard Lake, Walled Lake and
Wixom, the townships of Commerce, West Bloomfield and White Lake,
and Wolverine Lake Village.
Study Cites School District’s
Excellence
Walled Lake Schools has earned the Gold Medallion Award in the
tenth annual Educational Quotient ratings conducted by Expansion
Management magazine. The Gold Medallion Award is reserved for
only those districts scoring in the top 16% nationwide.
The magazine’s annual rating of 2,234 school districts across the
country covers communities of 15,000 or more. The Educational
Quotient of a district is a score derived from numerical weight
factors such as graduation rates and test scores, as well as other
factors such as a measurement of the community’s financial
investment in its school, teacher salaries, student-teacher ratios,
and educational levels of community members.
A release issued by the magazine states, "The EQ, unlike many
other educational ratings, focuses primarily on results.
Although we do gather data on spending and salaries and the
socio-economic background of the community, what’s most important to
us are test scores and graduation rates."
The Walled Lake District has also been honored for the past
several years by another national school rating organization,
SchoolMatch, with its What Parents Want Award presented annually to
districts ranking in the top fifteen percent nationally.
