Southdown Takes Trustees on
Award Journey
A two-year journey culminated earlier this fall when a delegation of Southdown Primary School faculty members led by Principal Michelle Marino picked up the 2010 Inviting Schools Award at the International Alliance for Invitational Education's world conference.
Mrs. Marino and Southdown teachers Joanne Cicio, Pamela Schwarting and David Crimi made a short presentation at last week's Huntington School Board meeting, describing the steps leading up to the award and highlighting the programs and practices at the school that resulted in the special recognition.
"We're thrilled to have won this prestigious international award," Mrs. Marino said. "It validates our intentional efforts to assure that our entire school, the people, places, programs, processes and policies are truly invitational and cordially summon everyone, from our students to the custodial staff, to reach their human potential."
The Southdown School community engaged in a long process of reflection, planning, workshops, training of staff, parents and students and the development of a school portfolio showing why the school was deserving of the Inviting Schools Award.
Every aspect of the school environment was assessed to determine if the principles of invitational education were effectively in place. The portfolio submitted to the IAIE committee provided a thorough overview of Southdown's program and why it was worthy of being recognized. A site visit was also part of the process as well as a survey of faculty and staff, students and parents.
"We were absolutely thrilled when we learned that we had been selected to receive the 2010 Inviting Schools Award," Mrs. Marnio said. "It wasn't until we attended the world conference in Ohio that we discovered we were the only school to have been selected from the United States."
According to the IAIE, "Invitational Education is a fresh and innovative approach to developing, maintaining, and enhancing optimal learning environments which encourages social and emotional learning, and strengthens culturally responsive education. It assumes that people are able, valuable and responsible."
Last Monday night's presentation can be viewed by logging onto the Huntington School District's website at www.hufsd.edu and clicking on the Our Schools link and then the Southdown link and finally on the Newsletters and Publications link.
"Invitational Education is not just a series of one shot programs and workshops," explained Mrs. Marino. "It's a total school reform that provides a framework for making schools a more exciting and enriching experience for everyone."
The Southdown delegation picked up the award at the IAIE world conference in Columbus, Ohio, Mrs. Marino and the three teachers making the presentation last Monday night were joined at the world conference by Huntington Director of Fine and Performing Arts Joan R. Fretz.
"From your first moment entering Southdown School you are immediately struck with the realization that Southdown is not your typical elementary school," Mrs. Marino said. "You can see it in the wonderful art and exemplars that adorn the walls and you can hear it and feel it in the courteous and genuinely caring interactions between students, faculty, parents and staff. It's a most unusual place; one that we're extremely proud to call a truly invitational school."