Blue Ribbon Schools Program s22

Name of Principal: Ms. Laurie Boske

Official School Name: Brownstone Intermediate School

I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge all information is accurate.

______Date ______
(Principal’s Signature)

Name of Superintendent*: Dr. Sally Doyen Superintendent e-mail:

District Name: Portland District Phone: (860) 342-6790

I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.

______Date ______
(Superintendent’s Signature)

Name of School Board President/Chairperson: Mr. Christopher Phelps

I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.

______Date ______
(School Board President’s/Chairperson’s Signature)

*Private Schools: If the information requested is not applicable, write N/A in the space.
The original signed cover sheet only should be converted to a PDF file and emailed to Aba Kumi, Blue Ribbon Schools Project Manager () or mailed by expedited mail or a courier mail service (such as Express Mail, FedEx or UPS) to Aba Kumi, Director, Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Office of Communications and Outreach, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Room 5E103, Washington, DC 20202-8173.

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The signatures on the first page of this application certify that each of the statements below concerning the school’s eligibility and compliance with U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) requirements is true and correct.

1.  The school has some configuration that includes one or more of grades K-12. (Schools on the same campus with one principal, even K-12 schools, must apply as an entire school.)

2.  The school has made adequate yearly progress each year for the past two years and has not been identified by the state as "persistently dangerous" within the last two years.

3.  To meet final eligibility, the school must meet the state's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirement in the 2010-2011 school year. AYP must be certified by the state and all appeals resolved at least two weeks before the awards ceremony for the school to receive the award.

4.  If the school includes grades 7 or higher, the school must have foreign language as a part of its curriculum and a significant number of students in grades 7 and higher must take the course.

5.  The school has been in existence for five full years, that is, from at least September 2005.

6.  The nominated school has not received the Blue Ribbon Schools award in the past five years: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 or 2010.

7.  The nominated school or district is not refusing OCR access to information necessary to investigate a civil rights complaint or to conduct a district-wide compliance review.

8.  OCR has not issued a violation letter of findings to the school district concluding that the nominated school or the district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes. A violation letter of findings will not be considered outstanding if OCR has accepted a corrective action plan from the district to remedy the violation.

9.  The U.S. Department of Justice does not have a pending suit alleging that the nominated school or the school district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes or the Constitution’s equal protection clause.

10.  There are no findings of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in a U.S. Department of Education monitoring report that apply to the school or school district in question; or if there are such findings, the state or district has corrected, or agreed to correct, the findings.

All data are the most recent year available.

DISTRICT

SCHOOL (To be completed by all schools)

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Only the seven standard categories should be used in reporting the racial/ethnic composition of your school. The final Guidance on Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic data to the U.S. Department of Education published in the October 19, 2007 Federal Register provides definitions for each of the seven categories.

11CT3

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From the Great Depression to the Great Recession, our Brownstone Intermediate School building on Main Street in Portland has welcomed students each September for more than 75 years. When first opened in 1932, the building housed both Portland High School and Portland Junior High School. In the early 1960s our building became Portland Junior High School for grades 6-8. A new name, Portland Middle School, with the same grade configuration arrived in the early 1990s. In 2004 we became Brownstone Intermediate School, commonly known as BIS, one of less than a dozen grades 5 and 6 schools in Connecticut.

Our Brownstone Auditorium houses two huge murals painted by artist H.S. Barbour as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Depression. WPA artists were hired to paint scenes depicting local life in towns throughout the United States. Barbour’s murals from the 1930s depict brownstone quarrying and shipbuilding – two industries that were essential to Portland’s development.

Brownstone Intermediate School is a community dedicated to bridging the transition from elementary to middle school for our children.This intellectual, emotional, social, and physical transition is addressed through a multi-discipline team approach, with a focus on responsible behavior, outstanding character, and contributions to the school and community.

The staff at Brownstone Intermediate School nurtures a climate based on reflection, critical thinking, communication, risk-taking, and broadening horizons. We accomplish this through both curricular and extra-curricular opportunities.Relationships with community organizations provide a variety of programs and activities where students can contribute and demonstrate their talents.

We offer a full curriculum of academic courses and unified arts. Technology is integrated across the curriculum as a learning and presentation tool.We give each student an opportunity to achieve his or her highest level of performance. Our children also know that our expectations for their success are set high.

Currently, Brownstone houses approximately 250 students in grades five and six.Fifteen percent of our students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Seven percent are identified with special needs. Grade five students are grouped in a traditional elementary structured classroom, working with primarily one teacher for the entire day. This is a slightly modified contained classroom model, except when students switch classes for science and social studies instruction only. Grade six follows a traditional middle school model where children have three- or four-teacher teams. They switch classes about every 42 minutes. All students receive instruction in Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies, along with a full Unified Arts program (Art, Music, Library, Computers, PE/Health, and Reading). All classes in both grades are heterogeneously grouped, except for sixth grade math instruction.