Emerado Public School receives national award for exceptional student academic achievement
Jan. 27—GRAND FORKS — Emerado (N.D.) Public School is one of 23 schools in the country to be named a 2021 National ESEA Distinguished School for extraordinary educational achievement. (ESEA stands for Elementary and Secondary Education Act.)
The school was recognized for exceptional student performance and academic growth for two or more consecutive years, which is one of three categories the National ESEA Association of State Program Administrators uses to showcase school success.
In another category for recognition as a Distinguished School, Mount Pleasant High School in Rolla, North Dakota, was recognized as one of 13 schools in the nation for closing the achievement gap between student groups for two or more consecutive years. The third category is for excellence in serving special populations of students, such as the homeless, migrants and English learners.
Members of the North Dakota DPI staff analyze test data results to determine which schools are eligible for consideration for the award, according to Lauri Nord, DPI program administrator. A state may select Distinguished Schools in two of the three categories each year, she said.
The Emerado Public School was nominated by DPI for the Distinguished School award based on student test scores and academic improvement in subgroups of students, Nord said.
Mickey Berry, superintendent and principal, said the recognition "is something that I feel our staff and students can be very proud of," as it represents academic improvement over a period of time.
The Emerado school, located 17 miles west of Grand Forks, has 108 students in Pre-K through grade 8 and 14 full-time teachers.
Berry and two teachers — Sydney Will, who teaches middle school math and sixth grade, and Ashley Strand, fourth-grade teacher — plan to attend the National ESEA conference next month in New Orleans, where they will accept the award.
"To be acknowledged on the national stage" is an unusual opportunity, Berry said. His team's attendance at the conference was approved by Emerado School Board members.
Because of the award, the school will receive an additional $33,000 in federal Title I funding, part of which will be used to send the three-member team to the national conference, said Berry, who is in his fourth year as superintendent and principal. That financial boost "is huge, especially for a school our size."
He and his staff will be looking for ways "to effectively use the remaining funds," he said.
As a National ESEA Distinguished School, Emerado Public School has received a flag and certificate, as well as pins, which have been distributed to staff members and students, Berry said.
The National ESEA Distinguished Schools program has recognized superior, federally-funded school programs since 1996. These schools have demonstrated a wide array of strengths, including team approaches to teaching and learning, focused professional development opportunities for staff, individualized programs for student success, and strong partnerships between the school, parents and the community.
The ESEA was passed by Congress in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty" and has been the most far-reaching federal legislation affecting education ever passed. In its original conception, Title I under the ESEA, was designed to close the skill gap in reading, writing and mathematics between children from low-income households who attend urban or rural schools and those from the middle-class who attend suburban schools.
