A Blue Ribbon Day for Fred L. Aiken Elementary School

Students and staff at Fred L. Aiken Elementary School in Green Tree were a bit blue on Friday—and they couldn't have been happier.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education officially named 305 schools, including Aiken, as 2011 National Blue Ribbon Schools based on their overall academic excellence or for their success in closing achievement gaps. In Aiken's case, the honor is for overall academic excellence.

The department will honor the entire 256 public and 49 private schools with their National Blue Ribbon School awards at a conference and awards ceremony Nov. 14-15 in Washington, D.C. This is the first time any Keystone Oaks school has received the award.

"We're just so proud right now," said Principal Bobbi-Ann Barnes, who smiled as she admitted that a Grinch poster that greeted students in the school lobby Friday might have stolen a little of the day's thunder. "They were more excited over that."

The importance of the honor, which came about because of the students' performance on the PSSAs (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) over the last five years, might be a little harder for the elementary school children to grasp than it was for the adults on hand for a celebration outside the school Friday afternoon.

But the excitement among those gathered, most of whom donned blue T-shirts or other blue apparel to honor the school, was contagious.

"It made me feel amazing," said Ava Christy, a fourth-grader.

A large sign was attached to the school outside and students gathered under it to hear Barnes tell them about the honor and have their photos taken.

"Our school is being recognized because of all the hard work you put in every day," Barnes told the students.

She also gave credit to the staff and parents for their contributions.

"They did a great job," said Dr. William Urbanek, Keystone Oaks superintendent, who was on hand for the ceremony. "When you get an award like this, it's humbling."

The honor made him feel good on both a professional and personal level, particularly that the school received the award while he is still working for the district. On Thursday night, He had attended Aiken as a student and later served as its principal.

"I got a good education here," he said.

Barnes said the school was asked to apply for the award by the federal Department of Education. To complete the requirements, which included sorting through five years of data, teachers came in on weekends and devoted any free time they had to the project.

"The application was monstrous," she said. "It was such a team effort."

Once that was all complete, Barnes said that there was still one variable—whether the students would score high enough to make yearly adequate progress (AYP) on their 2010-11 PSSAs. When she received the soft data about the scores in June, Barnes said she was confident that the school would get the award.

The award is somewhat bittersweet in that just a week before, the . All elementary students will attend Dormont Elementary instead.

The hoopla about the award isn't over. When Barnes and fourth-grade teacher Jennifer Harke get back from the official award presentation in Washington, D.C., there will be an assembly. She also said students have "a lot of surprises" ahead this year.

The principal is still taking in the enormity of the honor.

"It will really hit me when I get to D.C. and get the plaque," she said.