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Saturday, March 19, 2005
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Riverside enjoys limelight
Staff Writer Riverside Elementary School students have known all along that they attend the best school in the state -- it says so in their school song.
But now they have proof.
On Friday, students and staff members at the Brainerd elementary school celebrated being designated a 2004-2005 Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association School of Excellence. The award is presented annually by MESPA to schools whose principal, staff, students and community members demonstrate a commitment to educational excellence by completing a rigorous systematic program of self-assessment and developing and implementing a school improvement plan. The school is then considered for the award by a committee that studies its educational quality.
Riverside was only one of six schools in the state to receive School of Excellence validation this year, joining 106 other schools in the state that have received this designation since 1986.
Riverside celebrated with a school program Friday in the school gym. Students sang, recited poems and performed songs for the program, which included an awards presentation made by Jon Millerhaugen, a MESPA representative, to Principal Cathy Engler and Superintendent Jerry Walseth. The Brainerd VFW and American Legion also attended the ceremony. Fifth-graders Gretchen Kletscher and Stephen Raboin served as emcees.
Engler said the school underwent a two-year application process in which school staff members and parents were surveyed to find out areas that could be improved at the school. As a direct result, the school implemented Second Step, an anti-violence/anti-bullying program at the school and started Riverside Reflections, the school newspaper written by fourth- and fifth-graders developed with assistance from the Brainerd Dispatch.
Riverside Elementary School has 611 students in kindergarten through fifth-grade and 77 staff members. Parental involvement also is important at the school. The staff holds regular training sessions for parents in areas of math, reading and technology and the school has an active PTA that supports school programs. Students also participate in a number of programs, including CARE group, which stands for Commitment to Academics, Relationships and Excellence; conflict resolution; and the Heart of the Community (Homebound Elderly and Riverside -- Together), an intergenerational program where students reach out to the elderly in the community.
"You know it means a lot to me because it's a reflection of all of you here," said Engler, of the award during Friday's ceremony.
"We are extremely proud of you and what you've accomplished," Walseth told Riverside students and staff.
Stephanie Snidarich, a local artist, used her artistic talents to create a School of Excellence mural on the wall in the Riverside School gym.
Other schools that also received the 2004-2005 School of Excellence award were Cokato Elementary School and Dassel Elementary School, Dassel-Cokato School District; Fairview Elementary School, Mora School District; Jefferson Elementary School, New Ulm School District; and Moose Lake Elementary School, Moose Lake School District.
JODIE TWEED can be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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