NHS To Receive Blue Ribbon

School Award This Weekend

By Tanjua Damon

A trip to Washington, DC, will bring new meaning to the school color blue for the Newtown High School community after representatives of NHS receive the Blue Ribbon School Award in a ceremony this weekend honoring the school’s excellence.

Newtown High School found out in May last year that they were being named a Blue Ribbon School by the Federal Department of Education, after spending a great deal of time gathering material and organizing an application to be considered for the honor. The school was nominated in 1997 by the Connecticut State Department of Education, but was not honored nationally for the award.

Teachers Jeanetta Miller and Allison Zmuda along with Principal Bill Manfredonia played a large role in getting the material together to apply for the award. But the Newtown community as a whole was responsible for the essence of the report: Newtown High School is a great school.

The three educators will make the weekend trip to Washington.

“First of all we had to be a really good school,” Jeanetta Miller, a teacher in the English Department, said. “That’s been evolving since Bill [Manfredonia] began here. The process involves a very detailed account of what we do as a school. I loved doing it so much.”

The process looks at many different aspects throughout a school and its surrounding environment. Material was gathered showcasing the school’s challenging curriculum, how students’ needs are met, leadership, community relationship, indicators of success, standardized tests, active teaching and learning, and professional community. When the report was finished, it totaled 40 pages, single spaced with 11 point font, according to Principal Bill Manfredonia.

“Yes, we were gluttons for punishment,” he said. “This was a monumental process.”

A representative from the federal Department of Education arrived for a three-day visit in April to investigate and see what was included in the report.

“We had to justify and show concrete evidence,” Ms Miller said. “I would say 50 percent of the students voluntarily brought information. Mr Manfredonia wrote a note on every one of the pieces.”

Ms Zmuda believes it is a great honor for Newtown High School and is appreciative for all the support given to the process.

“I’m thrilled. It’s one of the highlights of my teaching career,” she said. “This was a complete school effort. It is a testament of the entire school community.”

Mr Manfredonia praised the work of the two teachers, thanking them for the many hours it took to produce the final product.

“Allison and Jeanetta are two of the greatest people to work with,” he said. “They are very intelligent.”

Mr Manfredonia admits he is excited about the trip to Washington, DC, and knows it is a tribute to the education in Newtown.

“I really have to admit I am excited,” he said. “I’m excited for the students, parents, and faculty. It’s an honor to the education in Newtown. I’m so appreciative of the faculty. When we had the visitation, I was jut so proud of the students. They were positive and helpful.”

The school will be honored in a ceremony in Washington, DC. The President or Vice President could be at the ceremony, according to Mr Manfredonia. Usually one or the other is there to present the award, but he does realize it is an election year.

Newtown and Bristol Eastern High Schools were the only two Connecticut Schools to be honored this time around.