Schools
Blue Ribbon Goes to RFH
National designation recognizes high performing schools or those schools that improved student achievement to high levels.
This week when the US Department of Education (DOE) announced its choices for National Blue Ribbon schools, 14 New Jersey schools made the list. The only school from Monmouth County to garner the recognition was Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School.
"We're ecstatic," said RFH Superintent Dr. Peter Righi. "We've been working very hard for the past five years."
Schools are nominated to apply for the award by state education officials. Righi said RFH received it's nomination after a visit last year by a state education consultant who was helping with a school initiative.
Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"She was so impressed by what she saw," he said.
According to the DOE, "The Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private elementary, middle, and high schools that are either high performing or have improved student achievement to high levels, especially among disadvantaged students." Out of the 413 schools nominated, 304 were chosen.
Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Righi said he believed his school was chosen for its overall excellence which he said is the culmination of years of hard work by his teachers and school board.
About five years ago, he said, the school began a new initiative to better assess students performance and to teach from a "brain-based" model that is based research about how people learn. Righi said the Board of Education recognized the importance of the work and gave the teachers contractual time to coordinate best practices, something Righi said is key.
On their five professional days, he said, teachers are meeting to go over research and collaborate on how to improve their own classroom techniques. "They're not working on lesson plans or grading papers on those days," he said.
"We are an educational institute that creates its own research," Righi said, adding that the teachers and administrators are learning together with data on students and applying it to the classroom.
According to the DOE, schools are chosen based on test scores. However, Righi says, it's the overall quality of the student body and the teachers who secured the nomination for the school.
"Just walk the halls," he said. "That's the measure people don't see. It's the activities our teachers have students engaged in."
