For Immediate Release
LOCAL SCHOOL NAMED NATIONAL SCHOOL OF CHARACTER
Competition Identifies America’s Best Schools for Positive Youth Development
May 21, 2008 . . . Washington, D.C. – The Character Education Partnership (CEP) has named Frances Howell Middle School in St. Charles, Missouri a 2008 National School of Character.
This year was a record-setting year for the prestigious national awards program. “We received 149 applications from 27 states, the highest number of applications ever, and the strength of the applications surpassed that of any other year,” said CEP Executive Director, Joe Mazzola.
CEP will award Frances Howell $20,000 at the 15th Annual National Forum on Character Education held October 17-19, 2008, in Arlington, Virginia. Frances Howell will use its grant to enhance its program and train and mentor other educators seeking to improve their character education efforts.
Frances Howell utilizes daily advisement classes to foster relationships, and the principal ensures that she is often available to students for “Sound Outs.” A Challenge Leadership workshop involved more than 200 students and 50 teachers, resulting in the Student Council evolving into the “Be the Change” Team. Teachers integrate character education into academics daily, and nearly all special education students successfully cover the same material as regular students in integrated classes.
Principal Amy Johnston says, “Francis Howell Middle School has been on a character education journey for five years and we see a difference in our students and in ourselves. Focusing on character has changed the culture of our school. We spend a great deal of time and effort developing positive relationships within our school and the results are lower discipline, higher academic achievement and improved attendance.”
The NSOC application process requires extensive reporting, documentation, and assessment of each school or district’s culture, academics, and character education programs. A special Blue Ribbon Panel, consisting of experts in the field of character education, considered the written applications and site visit reports of 25 finalists to determine the 11 national winners. “We had so many highly recommended schools that the decision was more difficult than ever this year,” said NSOC Director, Janice Stoodley.
The 2008 NSOC winners represent six states. The winners include four schools and one district from Missouri, two schools from New York, and one school each from Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey, and Florida. According to Mazzola, “The Missouri sweep is attributable to the long-term, bold leadership in character education throughout that state. However, all of the winners this year are national exemplars for excellence in quality, comprehensive character education.”