The following is a release from the Tuscaloosa City Schools System:
Tuscaloosa Magnet Schools - Elementary has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a 2014 National Blue Ribbon School. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and non-public elementary, middle and high schools where students perform at very high levels or where students are making significant gains in academic achievement. Tuscaloosa Magnet School – Elementary was recognized with an Exemplary High Performing School distinction, which includes schools among their state’s highest performing schools measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests. "For an educator, working in a school that is nominated as a Blue Ribbon School is a tremendous honor. Actually achieving Blue Ribbon status is much like winning an Oscar for an actor or the Heisman for an athlete: a dream come true,” said Jeanne Burkhalter, TMSE principal. “The Tuscaloosa City Board of Education was visionary in supporting and empowering us to create a school that focuses on school wide enrichment, integrated arts, foreign language, a strong technology component and project based learning. As a model IB Primary Years Programme, this recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School validates what we have been doing and encourages us to do even more. We look forward to what the future holds for our school and the Tuscaloosa City School System as a whole."TMSE was nominated by Alabama Superintendent of Education Tommy Bice as one of five schools in the state to become a U.S. Department of Education National Blue Ribbon School. A total of 417 schools annually may be nominated, but only around 250 schools are selected. TMSE is now among just under 7,900 schools across the country that exemplifies the qualities of a great American school. TMSE earned International Baccalaureate status as a Primary Years Programme in 2013.