It Takes a Child
By Allen Raymond, Publisher and Patricia Broderick, Editorial Director

We've visited many elementary schools throughout the country and, without exception, we've always found – perhaps tucked into a corner classroom on the third floor, or scattered randomly throughout the building – exceptional teachers doing marvelous things for kids. Our visit to Brigantine Elementary School in Brigantine, NJ, however, introduced us to so many outstanding educators and enthusiastic volunteers that we wondered, "Could this be the perfect school?"

Well, even though Brigantine Elementary is an exceptional school, we all know it's not perfect, because Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines "perfect" as being "entirely without fault or defect; flawless; lacking in no essential detail."

The staff would be the first to tell us not even Brigantine Elementary School is flawless, but this 500+ pupil, K-4 school under the leadership of Principal Donald A. Marrandino, is, in the opinion of many who are in a position to know, very good indeed.

On a roll. Brigantine Elementary School, in fact, is on a roll. In May 2006 it won the top award (and $10,000) in the 2005-06 Boyer Center Best Practices Program, named for the late Ernest R. Boyer, a highly honored educator and the former President of the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching and Learning.

This year Brigantine Elementary was one of five schools in the state nominated by the New Jersey Department of Education for the No Child Left Behind National Blue Ribbon School Award.

It has also won four New Jersey Best Practices Awards (one in 2000, two in 2004 and one in 2005) and the New Jersey Star School Award (2001-2002), plus the "Pride in Who We Are" award from the New Jersey Department of Education.

Everything works. As if that wasn't enough, the State's Education Commissioner, Dr. William Librera, in a statement honoring the school, wrote, "Achievements of your school provide clear and compelling examples for the entire educational community in the state to emulate."

Trying to find the one ingredient that makes this school tick is like trying to find the one element in a smoothly functioning watch that allows it to tell time. Nothing works unless everything works, and at Brigantine Elementary School everything seems to work.

But other schools function smoothly, too, so what's different about Brigantine Elementary? Why all the awards and accolades?

Oil.

Not your usual kind of oil, but rather, the oil that brings people together in a collegial, collaborative environment. The school describes that oil (our word, not theirs) like this: "The school's specialization is an integrated approach to assimilating character education using both the cognitive and affective domains to achieve high staff morale and student achievement."

Note the emphasis on "character education;" it's the core (the oil?) around which the school builds its curriculum. In its application to the Boyer Center the school wrote, "Character Education is infused throughout the classroom curriculum, including our special classes in technology, computers, art, library, Spanish, music and physical education."

And it's working. As we walked into Brigantine Elementary, a child held the door. A little thing, perhaps, but it made an impression which, during our visit, was constantly reinforced.

Politeness and courtesy to each other – kids to kids, kids to teachers, teachers to kids – was evidenced everywhere. A wonderful experience.

Kindness. The linchpin that brought this atmosphere into being is, without doubt, the school's character education program, "Kindness Is Contagious." (It is indeed "contagious;" we caught the spirit in no time at all.)

This strong emphasis on character education begins on the first day of school. That's when the principal explains to the entire student body "this is a caring community, and it is important to treat each other with kindness and respect."

Kindness is emphasized and integrated throughout the daily curriculum and, to get the school year off to a good start, October is always designated as "Kindness Month." Packets of information are sent home to parents, so they can maintain a log (there is a form for this) of each act of kindness their child exhibits during the month of October… "I washed the dishes, I called my sick aunt, I picked up some trash in the yard, I helped a friend who skinned her knee."

Whether the acts of kindness occur at home, on the school bus, on the playground, in the halls or in the classrooms (and the children present their own lists of the "acts of kindness" they performed) – the final tally for the whole school is sent to Mission: Kindness International, a New Jersey-based organization dedicated to character education, which verifies the lists from all of the schools, and then ranks them.

Benefits, incidentally, are more than just an atmosphere of kindness. The school staff and parents believe the "Kindness Is Contagious" program should be given credit for the measurable declines the school has experienced in incidents of bullying, rudeness and unacceptable behavior.

Not surprisingly, this emphasis on kindness – it seems like a no-brainer, but it isn't – has brought the "Kindest School in New Jersey" award to the school three times. And Principal Donald A. Marrandino has twice been recognized as "The Kindest Principal in New Jersey."

It's obvious that kindness also creates a ripple effect, as evidenced by the many other awards the school has received (see list, next page).

Walking the walk. So, what's it like to walk through the doors of Brigantine Elementary School? What's "different" from other schools? Well, for starters, it's busy and it's friendly – but we see that in other schools, too. What's "different" might be the obvious power of little children to, indeed, make a difference.

These children, reflecting the influence of their teachers in ways we've not seen before, could almost be called "missionaries for good." Through their courtesy, and their acts of kindness, which seem to have become second nature to them, the children carry an almost messianic attitude within the school and out into the community. And – best of all – they carry it into their own homes.

Little wonder, then, that even the city of Brigantine itself won the award as the "Kindest City in New Jersey." The children, by their own examples of courtesy and kindness, influenced everyone – including their parents and neighbors – to make it happen.

All this character education is wonderful, of course, but are the kids learning what they need to learn? The answer, of course, is "yes," or we wouldn't be bringing the school to your attention.

Learning happens here. The visual evidence is everywhere – messages and art posted in the hallways and classrooms, courtesy in the hallways (now there's an oxymoron to ponder), excitement and a "happy feeling" everywhere… the library, the gym, the television studio, the cafeteria, the music room, the office – even the nurse's office – and on the the playground, too.

But of course the substantive answer to whether the children are learning is in the details, and with Brigantine Elementary showing dramatic increases in test scores in language arts and mathematics, the details are pretty good – in fact, they're very good. For the 2003-2004 school year, Brigantine Elementary was given the Governor's School of Excellence Award, which brought with it a whopping $25,000 grant to be applied to various programs within the school.

The school's "Tuning into Technology" program revolves around the high-tech television studio that, throughout the day, not only brings the students and teachers the usual information about everyday life at the school – schedules, announcements, accomplishments – but also showcases professionally produced cross-curricular and multicultural themes, as well as a tough trivia question as the day begins.

G.Y.M. is the school's "Get Yourself Moving" program, guided by the school nurse, Chrissy Ortolf, and the physical education teacher, Mindy Pomatto. It includes an early a.m. half-hour Fun Fitness Program, Monday through Thursday, "adding extra exercise to the day in a fun way, using obstacle courses, games, stations, etc." The G.Y.M. program reflects, in its goals, the fact that education involves the whole child.

And, finally, we come to the bell-ringer, the year-long Cross Curricular Multicultural Approach to Arts Education, a student-centered and community-related program utilizing the arts as a multicultural educational platform.

Each year – in a five-year cycle, so it does not repeat while a child is moving from kindergarten through grade 4 (before moving to middle school) – the school selects a year-long program theme that will involve all of the children and culminate in an arts extravaganza in late spring. This year the theme was Great Britain and its role in the colonization of India, Australia and New Zealand. The school's art teacher, Teri Gragg, called it moomba, which she told us is Australian for "let's get together and have a good time."

Supporting the teachers. "We try, in the art department," Teri said, "to support the teachers, help them with the tests. They work really hard, and if we can help them in any capacity, we will.

"For instance," she continued, "we've taken vocabulary from our state tests and integrated it into the different arts programs, thematically across all disciplines."

But that's only the beginning. "If a child does not respond well sitting and listening in a traditional classroom," Teri said, "but responds to music and art – or technology or running or moving – we can help that child connect the dots."

During the year, the art created by each child is saved and stored for display in the huge annual multi-dimensional exhibit called "Arts Night" which takes place in late May. Approximately 1,500 adults swarm through the school to see exhibits of over 5,000 pieces of student-created work displayed with the help of 250 parent volunteers.

This year, one hallway of the school was dedicated to Great Britain, another to New Zealand, another to Australia and the last one to India.

The evening also included 200 student performers in six musical productions, dance, cultural foods donated by community volunteers, storytelling and multicultural PowerPoint® presentations. Teri called it a 12-ring circus, and it was.

"From the superintendent down to me," one teacher said, "in this school we're providing a simply wonderful environment for children – and for us adults, too."

School doesn't get any better than that.