PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The U.S. Department of Education Friday announced this year's list of Blue Ribbon schools, honored for excellence in academics and closing achievement gaps. One School District of Philadelphia school — The Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush High School — is among the ten Pennsylvania schools being recognized.
Staffers at Rush, a high school with 680 students on Knights Road in Northeast Philadelphia, are beside themselves with joy. The staff found out about the honor Friday as teachers gathered at school for a professional development day.
“A lot of our teachers were so happy and so excited,” theater teacher Sally Wojcik told KYW Newsradio. “There was actually some tears, yeah. There were some tears!”
Arts and academics work together at Rush, Wojcik said. “Everything we’re doing in every classroom supports the work in every other classroom. So to see an arts school recognized for this kind of excellence was really exciting,” she said.
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Students at the school have input, said dance teacher Denise Drumel. “The important decisions, the nonimportant decisions, the mediocre decisions. They’re involved in every aspect of the school. Everybody is equal. And I think that’s what sets us apart,” Drumel said.
Vocal music teacher Suzanne Spencer said it’s rewarding that her school’s work is getting national attention. “We’ve always known that we’re special and amazing. But now it’s like finally this little unicorn bubble of a school is being recognized nationally. So it’s really awesome,” she said.
“My whole identity is here, and so to be recognized for something that I’ve put my whole life into — it feels just really special.”
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Wojcik, Spencer and Drumel have taught at Rush since the school was founded in 2008. “We all started our programs from scratch and built them from the bottom up in the past 14 years,” Drumel told KYW Newsradio.
“So I think that it’s pretty amazing that our school is being recognized after just 14 years of inception.”
Also winning Blue Ribbon honors in Pennsylvania were Council Rock High School South in Holland, Mother Teresa School in King of Prussia, Corpus Christi in Lansdale and the New Hope-Solebury Middle School. 297 schools were recognized nationwide.
A celebration at Rush is set for Monday.
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