Top of the Class

A delegation from Southmost Elementary School in Brownsville was in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to receive the highest honor the U.S. Department of Education can bestow on a school — the Blue Ribbon School award.

The school at 5245 Southmost Blvd. is the first in the Brownsville Independent School District to receive the award. Interim superintendent Brett Springston, Principal Jimmy Haynes and a delegation of teachers from Southmost and other BISD officials received the award — including a Blue Ribbon flag to fly over the school and a recognition plaque —during a ceremony at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington.

Southmost Elementary is one of 264 public and 50 private schools to receive a Blue Ribbon School award this year.

The award honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools that are either academically superior, or have made dramatic gains in student achievement and helped close gaps in achievement among minority and disadvantaged students. Each year since 1982, the Department of Education has sought out schools where students meet and maintain high academic standards. Using standards of excellence known from research to exemplify school quality, the department celebrates schools, including those that beat the odds.

The Texas Education Agency nominated Southmost Elementary to receive the award for the 2008-2009 school year because of its increasingly good scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Southmost then underwent a rigorous evaluation process, Haynes said when Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the award earlier this year.

"I give the credit to the teachers, students, parents and the entire staff for working together as a team," Hayes said at the time. "We set goals and found a way to get the students to meet the higher expectations we set for them."

Mary Jo Monfils, area assistant superintendent for the Rivera cluster of schools, of which Southmost is a part, said Southmost’s scores on the reading portion of the TAKS changed drastically from 2004 to 2008:

ä Fourth-grade reading scores increased from a 65.8 passing rate in 2004 to 85 percent in 2008.

ä Fifth-grade reading scores soared from 49 percent passing in 2004 to 98.3 percent in 2008.

ä Fifth-grade commended reading scores rose from 3.7 percent in 2004 to 30 percent in 2008. A commended score on the TAKS means the student passed the test with a higher percentage of questions correct.

In math, Southmost made these gains in the same time period:

ä Third-grade math scores gained 7.5 percentage points from 2004 to 2008.

ä Fourth-grade math scores went from a passing rate of 89 percent in 2004 to a high of 95.7 percent in 2007.

ä Fifth-grade math scores went from 49.5 percent passing in 2004 to 98.4 percent passing in 2008.

ä Fifth-grade math commended scores went from 6.7 percent in 2004 to 52.5 percent in 2008, a gain of 45.8 percentage points.

Monfils pointed out that BISD did not apply for the award; it was based on meeting Department of Education criteria for scores on state-mandated reading and math tests. In addition, 40 percent of the students must come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Southmost was one of 26 schools in Texas to receive the award, including Bowie Elementary School in the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school district.