Private schools

The U.S. Department of Education celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6-10) with a variety of events and outreach. The Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) kicked off the week with a Google+ Hangout. At the end of the week, the Department’s Teaching Ambassador Fellows organized ED Goes Back to School Day. More than 60 staff from the Department visited schools and shadowed teachers across the D.C. metropolitan area on Thursday, May 9, 2013. OII was fortunate to be hosted by eight teachers in schools in D.C.

The second-annual U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools award honorees were announced on April 22nd by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.  Mundo Verde is one of the 64 schools being recognized for their exemplary efforts to create healthier learning spaces and educate students on the importance of environmental protection. The secretary was joined by the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley and Acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Bob Persiacepe.

It is not every day that hard-working students and teachers are awarded medals for their academic success; but that is just what happened to the students and teachers at St. Patrick School in Washington, Ill.

On December 5, 2012, the school celebrated its newly earned status as a U.S. Department of Education 2012 National Blue Ribbon School. Like Olympic athletes, the St. Patrick students eagerly stepped forward as school leaders and Bishop Daniel Jenky of the Diocese of Peoria solemnly placed official Blue Ribbon Schools medals around their necks. From kindergartners to the most recent St. Patrick School graduates (now high school freshmen), the students beamed with pride as they received their medals. The medals serve as a lasting reminder of the important role that students and teachers played in their school’s Blue Ribbon recognition, according to Monsignor John Prendergast, the pastor of St. Patrick Parish.

When the first class of U.S. Department of Education ED-Green Ribbon Schools (ED-GRS) were recognized this past June in Washington, D.C., nearly a third of the schools hailed from the ranks of the charter, magnet, and private schools — three constituent programs that are part of the Office of Innovation and Improvement.

The dozen private, eight charter, and four magnet schools, like all of the 78 ED-Green Ribbon Schools honored by the Department of Education with the support of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency, exercise a comprehensive approach to creating “green” environments. All ED-GRS honorees are measured against the three “pillars” of the national award: reducing environmental impact and increasing energy efficiency; promoting improved health for students and staff; and ensuring a high-quality environmental and outdoor education to prepare students with the 21^st century skills and sustainability concepts needed in the growing global economy.

For each of the last three years, Secretary Duncan has started the school year with a bus tour visiting schools and communities across the country to find what’s working in education and to hear the concerns, insights, and lessons learned from students, teachers, principals, parents, and the communities supporting them. It’s always a welcome grounding in “real education” — the kind that children and families experience everyday — versus the “education system” policymakers and pundits love to caricature and debate.

This year, I participated more fully than I have in years past — visiting schools, grantees, education reformers, and advocates in California, Missouri, and Kentucky.