Magnolia Elementary School in Joppa is one of four schools in Maryland, and 64 schools in the nation, to be named a National School of Character because of school administrators' efforts to not only help the children grow academically, but also in terms of their character and relationships with others.
"It's the icing on the cake for the service that they provide for kids," Laurie Namey, supervisor of equity and cultural proficiency for Harford County Public Schools, said. "They are rewarded every day, because they are able to witness the growth in kids academically, socially and emotionally."
Magnolia Elementary, which has 490 students, received the National School of Character designation from Character.org, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit coalition "committed to fostering effective character education in our nation's schools," according to its website.
Magnolia shared the designation with 64 schools and three school districts in 14 states.
"They really did a great job at creating a healthy, safe, engaged, supportive and challenged learning environment," Sheril Morgan, director of schools of character for Character.org.
Magnolia had been named a Maryland School of Character for 2015, also by Character.org. The school was also recognized in March for Vision in Action: The ASCD Whole Child Award, during a ceremony in Houston, Texas. The ASCD is the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, headquartered in Alexandria, Va., according to the organization's website.
Namey nominated Magnolia Elementary for the ASCD award, and she served as a reference when Character.org representatives wanted to know more about the school.
"There's lot of awards coming our way for the work that they're doing with kids," Namey said of Magnolia administrators.
Representatives of Character.org spent March and April visiting schools that had applied for the national designation, and they spoke to principals, teachers, parents, community members and students, Morgan said.
She said Magnolia "stood out" among Maryland applicants.
"It's not a competition," Morgan said. "It's really based on your implementation of the 11 principles."
Morgan was referring to Character.org's 11 Principles of Effective Character Education. According to the website, they include promoting "the foundation of good character;" a comprehensive definition of character, which includes "thinking, feeling and doing;" using "a comprehensive, intentional and proactive approach to character development;" creating a "caring community" in the school; providing opportunities for "moral action" to students; offering an academic curriculum that helps students develop character and succeed academically; fostering "self motivation" for students; having school staff follow the character traits they teach students; fostering "shared leadership and long-range support" for character education; building partnerships with families and the community to support character education; and conducting regular assessments of the school's character education program
Namey noted Magnolia Elementary puts those principles into action with its adoption of the Harford school system's Positive Behavior Intervention and Support program. It is one of 13 elementary, middle and high schools in Harford that have adopted the PBIS program, and Namey said six more are scheduled to go through training for it this summer.
Magnolia has also implemented Rachel's Challenge, a national, comprehensive program to promote "acts of kindness," Namey said. The school promotes "health and wellness" among students, and families and community supporters are heavily involved in character education, she said.
"As they are seeing the benefits of all the programs, they just get stronger and stronger, because I believe that their passion is fueled by the success of the kids," Namey said.
Magnolia and its fellow designees will be honored during Character.org's 22nd National Forum on Character Education from Oct. 15 to 17 in Atlanta, Ga.