WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Department of Education announced this week that John P. Woods Elementary School in Fort Smith has been recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School.
The summary of the school’s qualifications for the award were listed as follows:
Woods Elementary School is a proud, positive, and persistent learning community dedicated to the mission of being “A safe place where we work, think, and learn together for success in tomorrow’s world.” Woods is “Guiding students in Opportunities for Adventure, Leadership, and Success!”
Woods Elementary has been able to challenge the status quo by creating a growth mindset in an already high performing school. Challenging students to go beyond merely answering questions correctly to having the ability to justify and provide evidence for their answers has been a transformational practice. Teachers have received job-embedded professional development to create a culture of rigorous pedagogy. Professional Learning Communities have increased data disaggregation, data usage, and collaboration. A Technology Integration Specialist has worked with teachers to provide students with high quality instructional strategies to support the one-to-one Chromebook digital conversion schoolwide.
Students engage with technology on a daily basis and participate in a strong STEM immersion including the practice of coding robots in the classroom and developing STEM projects for competition in the district’s STEM Wars. Older students are invited to join Chess Club and Robotics Club to further enhance their education. Students develop their multimedia skills through a Wake Up Woods broadcast to deliver announcements. On Fridays, students gather in the cafetorium for Wake Up Woods to celebrate the week and allow parents to view the student presenters in action.
Volunteers, mentors, and parent participation through Strong Fathers, Strong Families, and PTA further enhance the excellent education provided at Woods.
According to the Department of Education website, The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. Every year the U. S. Department of Education seeks out and celebrates great American schools, schools demonstrating that all students can achieve to high levels. More than 8,500 schools across the country have been presented with this coveted award. The National Blue Ribbon School award affirms the hard work of students, educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content. The National Blue Ribbon School flag gracing an entry or flying overhead is a widely recognized symbol of exemplary teaching and learning.
