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Blue Ribbon award spotlights exemplary schools
Blue Ribbon award spotlights exemplary schools
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012
LESLIE BRODY
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
When New Jersey’s 17 new National Blue Ribbon Schools got word of their awards this month, they were quick to festoon their front doors with huge blue bows and balloons.
Capturing the award for excellence is a moment of great pride and a potent marketing tool, vivid blue proof that a school’s students did very well on standardized tests and their programs impressed judges. Bergen and Passaic counties had seven winners, and some immediately sent out news releases to let their neighbors know.
Nationwide, 219 public schools and 50 private schools got the award this year. It’s a huge coup to get one, but there’s a common misconception that schools with Blue Ribbons rack up the very best results in America. One winner even boasted on its website that its Blue Ribbon places it “among the 50 top-performing private elementary schools in the nation.”
http://www.northjersey.com/clifton/Blue_Ribbon_award_spotlights_exemplary_schools.html
