Tehiyah Day School in El Cerrito received one of the nation’s top education honors this fall when it was named a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School — one of 314 schools to receive the coveted award from the U.S. Department of Education, and the only Jewish day school in the nation so recognized.
Head of school Bathea James and Elise Prowse, head of the middle school, accepted the award last month in Washington, D.C.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools award honors public and private elementary, middle and high schools where students perform at very high levels (the category in which Tehiyah won), or where significant improvements have been made. The award this year was given to 264 public and 50 private schools.
“We are so proud of this prestigious honor, which is a testament to the power of an excellent general studies curriculum, coupled with a meaningful Hebrew and Judaic studies curriculum, all delivered by inspired and dedicated faculty,” noted Donna Sidel, Tehiyah’s director of communications.
Tehiyah was the only private school among the nine Northern California Blue Ribbon Schools recognized this year as top-performing. The others were Alice Fong Yu Alternative School and Lowell High School in San Francisco; Milikin Basics+ Elementary School in Santa Clara; North Star Academy in Redwood City; Oak Avenue Elementary in Los Altos; R.I. Meyerholz Elementary in San Jose; William Hopkins Junior High in Fremont; and Woodside Elementary in Woodside.
The award has been bestowed on nearly 7,000 schools over the past 30 years. The award ceremony was held Nov. 13 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. — j. staff