ROCK QUARRY ELEMENTARY RECOGNIZED NATIONALLY AS BLUE RIBBON SCHOOL

October 1, 2018

Tuscaloosa City’s Rock Quarry Elementary School is among Alabama’s five schools awarded a Blue Ribbon Award from U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes the work of educators, parents and the community to create safe, welcoming places where students can learn and be challenged.

Rock Quarry Principal Laura Jockish said test scores along with faculty and staff are the reason for the award. The school was nominated by the Alabama State Department of Education but the application still had to be filled out by Jockish and a committee. Jockish said that above all, she is extremely proud of the dedicated work teachers have put into the school.

“They have worked really hard, they’ve tried new ideas,” said Jockish. “We’ve moved our focus from what we do to teach to what do we really need to do to make sure that children are learning. And I believe that we have put a lot of hard work in and it feels really really good to know that they are going to be recognized for the hard work they’ve done.”

Up to 420 schools are nominated across the nation for Blue Ribbon recognition each year.

The other Alabama schools to win were: