By Donald Gilpin

Princeton Charter School (PCS) has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) as a 2023 National Blue Ribbon School (NBRS) award winner. PCS is the only 2023 Blue Ribbon award winner in Mercer County, one of just nine in New Jersey, and only 353 schools in the country.

“We are proud of this amazing achievement as a credit to the students, teachers, staff, parents, and administration of Princeton Charter School,” wrote Head of School Larry Patton in a letter to PCS parents. “No single act resulted in this honor, but rather it reflects the collective efforts, dedication, and shared vision of the entire Charter community.”

Founded in 1997, PCS, located on Bunn Drive with a student population of about 420 from kindergarten to grade eight, was also recognized as a Blue Ribbon School in 2004.

“A strong sense of community is at the heart of our work,” noted Lisa Eckstrom, assistant head of school for grades five to eight, pointing out that the school was particularly successful in working through the challenges of the pandemic.

“Although it would be an honor to receive the award at any time, I believe that this award holds special significance given the many obstacles that all schools have faced since March 2020,” said Eckstrom, as quoted in Patton’s letter to the PCS parents.  “I would like to recognize our faculty, staff, parents, board members, administration, and most of all our students, who all found nimble and creative solutions to challenges that we could not have imagined pre-COVID.”

She continued, “The ethos of Princeton Charter School is to challenge ourselves to improve our curriculum, to broaden opportunities for our students, and to form ever stronger partnerships with our parents.”

In a September 21 phone interview, Eckstrom and Patton both commented on some of the particular qualities that characterize PCS and have boosted its success. Patton emphasized “the ongoing attention to being on mission.” He explained, “We continue to execute in pursuit of our mission” in maintaining the school’s commitment to pursue the best mode of instruction for all students.

As one of the highlights of the school’s NBRS application, Patton cited “how nimbly we adapted and addressed the pandemic and kept that academic focus in addition to addressing all the safety and emotional concerns.”

Eckstrom described how during the first full year of COVID-19 the students were divided into classes of those who had chosen to attend in person and classes of students who were attending online. The students online were never competing for attention with those who were there in person. “It was very complicated,” Eckstrom said, “but you were in your own online class from homeroom on so you felt really a part of that community, a part of that group, and you weren’t competing with students in the classroom.”

Patton explained, “Having a hybrid class of kids in front of you and kids at the computer is not effective. We really moved everything to create classrooms for kids who were there in person,” and teachers found spaces where they could teach their remote classes.

He continued, “It was really a dance, but it was based on the notion of finding the best mode of instruction. We decided that the best mode of instruction for remote students was a class no bigger than 12, depending on the age, and not a hybrid.  We decided this is what works and we’re going to make it happen.”

In offering other examples of PCS’s strategies and the practices that have been most instrumental to the school’s success, Patton reiterated the school’s commitment to meet the educational needs of each student at every grade level. “It’s not one size fits all,” he said. “You need to be very thoughtful about what’s happening at every grade level. We’re just trying to meet what is the best instructional mode at each level.”

One strategy he cited was the PCS instructional system of co-teaching with two teachers in the classroom in third and fourth grade and in some fifth grade subjects, then moving into smaller sections with just one teacher in the classroom in upper grades.

Patton noted that another strategy crucial for their success has been “our genuine engagement of staff in our curricular instructional process.” He continued, “It’s not a top-down structure for things like curriculum. Lisa [Eckstrom] and I are not coming into the English Department saying, ‘Here’s your new textbook.’ Teachers are asked to evaluate and determine what works best and they’re saying things like, ‘We want to move to this instructional practice for writing.’”

Patton also pointed out a science teacher’s initiative to shift to a two-year rotation in order to organize labs more effectively and the transition to a readers-writers workshop for teaching writing. “We’re not saying ‘do this.’ It’s really a collaborative process where we’re thinking about the best ways to instruct,” he added.

“A lot of these innovations came from teacher leaders, which really indicates their investment in the outcome for the school and the students and their agency in being able to have a voice,” Patton explained. “We all talk about stakeholders and sometimes we never give those stakeholders a stake in the process, but that’s something we as an institution make sure we do.”

Eckstrom highlighted the role of the parents in supporting teachers at PCS. “Our parents really appreciate what teachers do,” she said. “Our parents play such an important role. By word and by deed they make teachers know how treasured they are in our community.”

Patton added, “This is a town that really cares about education. We’re fortunate to be where we are.”

In the DOE’s announcement of 2023 Blue Ribbon Schools, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona stated, “The honorees … have set a national example for what it means to raise the bar in education. The leaders, educators, and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.”

The DOE announcement went on to point out that the different Blue Ribbon Schools share some essential elements. “National Blue Ribbon School leaders articulate a vision of excellence and hold everyone to high standards,” the announcement stated. “They demonstrate effective and innovative teaching and learning, and the schools value and support teachers and staff through meaningful professional learning.”

Patton said that he and the PCS community saw the honor as a significant affirmation and were “feeling really proud,” but added, “I don’t think it’s going to change us at all. I think we’re going to continue to change while being the same in terms of our goals and our mission.”

He continued, ”My role is really trying to make sure that we are translating our mission and our goals for the school into the 2024-2025-2026 version of that, given technology, learning, all of the challenges that come in from the outside. We want to adapt and be nimble, and we also want to continue to meet our goals.”

PCS Board of Trustees Chair Stefanos Damianakis thanked the teachers, administration, and staff, and he stated that the National Blue Ribbon recognition “speaks to our unwavering commitment to our mission, our north star, and the consistent execution of that mission over time, from the founders’ original vision for Charter, through the continual efforts to adapt our program to meet the needs of our students over the last 27 years.”