2015 Blue Ribbon School: Kaleidoscope School of Arts & Science

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Kaleidoscope School of Arts & Science achieves national recognition as a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School. Based on overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups for making progress, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan named 335 schools as a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School.

One of the 15 charter schools recognized nationally, and one of three schools in Alaska to receive this distinguished honor in 2015, Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science in Kenai, Alaska, joins nine other schools in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District (KPBSD) to achieve the National Blue Ribbon excellence designation.

"This honor recognizes your students' accomplishments and the hard work and dedication that went into their success," Duncan said in a video message to the awardees. "Your journey has taught you collaboration, intentional instruction, and strong relationships in school and with your community. You represent excellence—in vision, in implementation, and in results—and we want to learn as much as we can from you."

"I'm honored our school has been recognized," said Robin Dahlman, principal. "This is a reflection of a vision shared by dedicated teachers, staff, students, families and community members to personalize integrated learning for all students. We look forward to continuing to provide excellence in all we pursue with children's learning and development."

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Before the school day started on September 30, 2015, Principal Dahlman had already tied blue ribbons on class doors as a way to share with staff and students the important recognition as a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School. After making a celebratory announcement to congratulate all students and staff for creating an exceptional school together as a community, she caught Mrs. Hurst taking her students to read the statistics about the award in the hall display.

We are very proud of Kaleidoscope and what they are doing for students in our district," said Sean Dusek, superintendent. "The staff, students and parents should be commended for all of their hard work to make this school such a wonderful place for kids. Congratulations and keep up the great effort!"

The U.S. Department of Education will honor all 285 public and 50 private schools at a recognition ceremony on November 9-10, 2015, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. Each school will receive an award plaque and a flag as symbols of their accomplishments. In its 33-year history, more than 8,000 of America's schools have received the coveted National Blue Ribbon Schools award.

Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science is one of four charter schools in the KPBSD. With forty-three diverse public schools spanning 25,600 square miles on the Kenai Peninsula, Sean Dusek, superintendent, explains, "In my opinion our diversity is an asset that all of us should embrace. While this diversity makes the management of our district challenging, it is the best thing to offer for our nearly 9,000 students." Alaskan families can choose to send their students to these KPBSD public schools: