×

Colliers Primary School receives state recognition

The Brooke County Board of Education on Monday recognized Colliers Primary School for being named a West Virginia School of Excellence. The school’s staff includes, from left, Kristen Malinowski, Arah Barker, Zena Trimmer, Dana Stoll, Penny Foose, Shanah Perrone, Principal Jo-Ellen Connolly, Mamie Keenan, Vicky Kovach and Sharon Haught. — Warren Scott

WELLSBURG — It’s been a banner year for Colliers Primary School, with the school receiving a state honor and being nominated for a national award.

The Brooke County Board of Education on Monday acknowledged the staff, pupils and parents of Colliers Primary School for their part in the school being named a West Virginia School of Excellence for Distinctive Student Performance by the state board of education.

Jo-Ellen Connolly, principal, said the honor now is based on the grading system adopted by the department for all West Virginia schools and goes to all schools that received A’s for the percentage of students who met grade level expectations in math and language arts on the state assessment test, reading achievement for a school’s third-graders and math achievement for its eighth-graders and attendance.

Other criteria, such as graduation rates, apply to high schools.

The school met similar criteria when it was named a School of Excellence in 2013. Because the honor is based on a school’s performance over a three-year period, this year is the next year in which Colliers Primary could be considered for it.

Connolly said the school was one of 22 elementary schools in the state that received A’s and she was told its test scores were the highest in the upper five counties of the Northern Panhandle.

She said in addition to the hard work of pupils and staff and support of parents, two programs helped the school to receive the honor.

One is Cub Club, a 30-minute period in which all pupils receive additional language arts and math instruction according to their ability each day; and the other is the Brooke High School Fun Day established by Superintendent Toni Paesano Shute as an incentive for good attendance.

The honor comes in the same year Colliers Primary School was one of three West Virginia schools to be nominated by the state Department of Education for the honor of National Blue Ribbon School. The school was nominated in the area of exemplary high performing schools, an honor given to schools with scores on the most recent state achievement test in the top 15 percent in their state or that met a combination of other criteria, including results in other subject areas and attendance.

Connolly said for the nomination, the school was required to submit documentation covering its curriculum, instructional approaches and methods for motivating students, supporting staff and engaging parents.

“We’re pretty excited about that,” she said, adding she will know if the school has received the national honor in late September.

Shute said, “We just can’t say enough about Colliers Primary. The entire staff does an excellent job. It’s a school where every child is welcome and the special needs of any student are met.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today