The Sea Road School in Kennebunk is pictured Monday. Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced the school has been designated a National Blue Ribbon school, the highest distinction for elementary, middle and high schools in the nation.
The federal DOE announced last week that Falmouth Middle School and Reeds Brook Middle School in Hampden were awarded the designation, but the final Maine winner is close to home.
Sea Road School in Kennebunk has been designated by the DOE as one of the leading institutions, making it the second blue ribbon school in Regional School Unit 21. Kennebunkport Consolidated School was designated in 2010.
More than 7,500 schools across the country have been presented with the coveted award over the years, according to the DOE.
“We were really overjoyed,” Sea Road School Principal Stephen Marquis said Monday. “It’s the highest distinction a school can earn in the United States. Of the roughly 130,000 schools, only 339 received it (this year), and only 289 public schools out of 100,000.”
It’s no small task to be awarded NBR status, Marquis said. To be eligible, a school must first be nominated by its state DOE and then go through an extensive application process focusing on school climate, test scores, core curriculum, culture and uniqueness of the institution.
That all happened in January of this, year, said RSU 21 Superintendent Katie Hawes, and the administrators have been trying to keep news of the school’s recognition a secret for the past six months.
Marquis said the school of about 240 fourth- and fifth-grade students was nominated by the state based on its 2014- 2015 academic year test scores, and its 2015-2016 scores validated its eligibility as a NBR school.
But that’s not all there is to Sea Road School, he said.
“We’re much more than test scores,” Marquis said. “It’s much more the curriculum of the hallways and playing fields, and in and around school beyond the classroom, and I think that’s what makes it pretty exciting to be here.”
Marquis said the award is a reflection of three facets of the school community: great kids, supportive families and communities and “tremendous” educators.
“You don’t win this award by chance,” he said. “It’s really the culmination of years of great work in the building as well as in the district.”
“We do have a history of excellence in the district, but I think it’s mostly Steve and his staff, and the work that they’re doing to meet the needs of all kids that has made this happen,” Hawes said.
“It’s a real validation of the hard work of our staff,” Marquis said.
Ask the staff, and they’ll say the school’s success is due to its culture of motivation: teachers motivate the students, and the students motivate the teachers in return.
“I think it’s the culture that is our biggest strength,” said Jan Gibson, a fifth-grade teacher. “We celebrate success. We honor students.”
Meg Parkhurst and Ken Chapman, also fifth-grade teachers, agreed.
“It’s all about our teachers. It’s a place where we enjoy each others’ company, but we’re serious about what we do. We push each other in different directions. We draw on each other’s strengths,” Parkhurst said.
“I’ve never taught with a stronger staff,” Chapman said.
Hawes, Marquis and Parkhurst will be traveling to Washington D.C. for a two-day conference on Nov. 7 to formally accept their award. At the conference, the trio will be presented with a plaque and flag to proudly display at the elementary school for years to come.
Following the conference, on Nov. 18, the school also plans to host a large assembly, where U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is expected to present a letter to be filed with the Library of Congress immortalizing the school as a national leader in education.
Hawes said she thinks news of the award will be a major draw to the area for families looking to send their children to school. While many of the state’s school districts see mobility into kindergarten, first and second grades, Hawes said, RSU 21 typically sees an influx of students in the fourth through fifth grades.
“We think (families) get to a point where they realize the importance of school in thinking about where they want to live and where their children are going to go to school, and they look around and shop really for the school they want their kids to go to,” she said.
“I think the national recognition Sea Road has gotten has drawn people from out of state and in state to come and have tours, and ultimately buy houses here and register their kids here because of the National Blue Ribbon status and also the work that’s being done,” Hawes continued. “I think it will do great things for this community.”
Marquis also said the continued recognition RSU 21 receives, in addition to current construction projects at the Mildred L. Day School – which serves elementary students in Arundel – and Kennebunk Consolidated School and Kennebunk High School, is an indication that the three communities are becoming stronger.
“I think having two Blue Ribbon schools on top of three major construction projects, on top of an exemplary middle school – the only International Baccalaureate middle school in Maine – I think it’s almost like a perfect storm of goodness that’s come to Kennebunk,” Marquis said.
“Healthy schools make healthy communities,” Hawes added. “I think all of these pieces just contribute to bettering the Kennebunks as a whole.”
— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
