On November 6 and 7 in Washington D.C., Charles J. Caruso Middle School was officially honored with the 2017 National Blue Ribbon School designation.  Mrs. Suzanne Molloy, veteran Caruso teacher and instructional coach, joined me to represent CMS for this special award.  We were also joined by Kipling Elementary and Drs. Lubelfeld and McConnell.

How prestigious is this honor?  As Jason Botel, Acting Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education pointed out, it is more difficult to earn this status than it is for a college athlete in almost any sport to turn professional.  Far less than 1% of schools across the nation are recognized each year.  It is not a perfect analogy, but it does communicate how special this honor is for a school community.

What comes next?  To continue our relentless pursuit to the meet the academic and social-emotional learning needs of all of our students.  We are humbled by this honor but we do not rest on our laurels.  At most, a school can only receive this recognition once every five years, however, we aim to be blue ribbon-worthy each and every year!  Thank you to all of our staff members, parents, students, and community members for promoting educational excellence at Charles J. Caruso Middle School!