Dear Northwestern Faculty, Staff, Students and Families:
On behalf of the RSD7 Board of Education and High School Principal Gary Franklin, it is my pleasure to announce that Northwestern High School has been named a 2021 National Blue Ribbon School for exemplary high performance. This is the highest recognition in public education and a tremendous credit to our faculty, staff, students, and families. Our exceptional teachers and support staff consistently work with our students to help them reach their full potential.
The following is an excerpt from the Governor’s press release:
“Northwestern takes a proactive approach to easing the transition for students and building community through Link Crew, a student leadership program, before the school year begins. Supporting each other and the broader community are core values at Northwestern. In 2015, the district implemented a program called Kindness in Motion. This unique program has been recognized by InspirEd, Facebook, and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Kindness in Motion is a mini-grant program that empowers students and staff to design and implement projects that spread kindness within and beyond their community.
Over the last four accountability reporting cycles, Northwestern has shown improvement across key indicators. Overall performance has earned the school placement in Category 1, the highest grouping in the system, the last time accountability reports were issued. Northwestern is one of only nine high schools in Category 1 and one of six to be identified as a School of Distinction.”
On behalf of the entire RSD7 Administrative team (Mr. Bakulski, Mr. Carroll, Mr. Amara, and Dr. Carvalho) Mr. Franklin and I would like to express our appreciation for your support of Northwestern High School. We would also like to acknowledge Mr. Ken Chichester, retired HS Principal, for his countless contributions to Northwestern High School.
A very special thanks to the Regional School District No. 7 Board of Education for their consistent support: Molly Sexton Read, Chair; Rob Jerram, Vice-Chair; Noel Gauthier, Secretary; Terri Kenneson, Deb Bell, Kim Crone, Lisa Ann Fragale, and Mimi Duran.
I would also like to thank the elected officials from our four towns for their support, including; Barkhamsted First Selectman, Don Stein; Colebrook First Selectman, Tom McKeon; New Hartford First Selectman, Dan Jerram; and Norfolk First Selectman, Matt Riiska .
Further, I would like to acknowledge the Northwestern Middle School faculty and staff for their on-going work in preparing our students for high school. This award is a credit to everyone working in RSD7. We share this award with the leadership, faculty, staff, and students of our elementary school districts and the Hartland School, for their work in building our students’ educational foundation. We also share this award with students and families from Winchester and Torrington who attend Northwestern’s Agricultural Education program.
Please see the attached the video if you are interested in additional information about this national award.
Here is the link to the 2021 United States Department of Education National Blue Ribbon Award Winners.
Sincerely,
Judy Palmer
