HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 244 Offered January 17, 2008 Commending Elk Knob Elementary School. ---------- Patron-- Kilgore ----------

WHEREAS, Elk Knob Elementary School was honored as a United States Department of Education No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School on November 13, 2007; and

WHEREAS, on December 17, 2007, Elk Knob Elementary School, located in Pennington Gap in Lee County, celebrated its designation as a Blue Ribbon School before a group of elated parents, students, and members of the community at Lee High School’s Slemp Auditorium; and

WHEREAS, to be named a Blue Ribbon School is to join a very elite group of schools―only 5,510 schools have won the coveted award over its quarter-century history, and in 2007, of more than 133,000 schools in the United States that were considered, only 289 schools were honored; and

WHEREAS, Elk Knob Elementary School was one of seven Virginia public elementary schools and three private schools to receive the 2007 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School designation, and the school also received a plaque and a flag signifying its Blue Ribbon status; and

WHEREAS, since 1982, when the Blue Ribbon Schools Recognition Program was founded, more than 100 Virginia public and private schools have been honored by the program, which recognizes public and private K-12 schools that are either academically superior in their states or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement; and

WHEREAS, all of the Lee County public schools were fully accredited under Virginia’s achievement-based accountability system in 2006 - 2007 and all met the standards of yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001; and

WHEREAS, Elk Knob Elementary School’s well-deserved Blue Ribbon School award is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the students, parents, administration, teachers, and staff and the support of the community of Pennington Gap; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend and congratulate Elk Knob Elementary School as a recipient of the United States Department of Education No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School award; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Lisa Stewart, the principal of Elk Knob Elementary School, as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration and gratitude for the school’s commitment to the young people of Lee County and the Commonwealth.