Shelton Lawmakers Commend Sunnyside Elementary School on National Honor

Sen. Kevin Kelly, Rep. Jason Perillo, and Rep. Ben McGorty today issued the following statement regarding Sunnyside Elementary School in Shelton being named by the U.S. Department of Education as a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School.

“What a fantastic tribute to the hardworking, creative and dedicated educators and students at Sunnyside School. As lawmakers, passing policies which help schools close achievement gaps must be our shared priority. This national recognition shines a bright light on the success stories that are happening at Sunnyside, and we join together as a state to say ‘congratulations’ on this significant achievement.”

Sunnyside School enrolls 224 students in Kindergarten through Grade 4. Nearly half of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals and 15.6% of students are multilingual learners.

Sunnyside has earned School of Distinction status annually since 2015-2016. In 2022-2023, academic growth for Sunnyside students was among the top ten percent of schools in mathematics and reading for all students and students with high needs. The school’s overall accountability index in 2022-2023 was 80, meaning that the school earned 80% of all possible points. Contributing to the index was overall reading and math performance that approached the designated state targets with the school earning over 90% of possible points for all students in both subjects.

Sunnyside has developed a strong professional culture that promotes trust, collaboration, and continuous improvement through Instructional Rounds. Instructional Rounds are modeled after a similar practice used in medicine. At Sunnyside, a group of educators travels in a small group to observe teaching and learning throughout the building. The classroom visits are brief and are not evaluative. The group reflects on the instruction observed as well as student engagement in the process. Finally, the team discusses their observations and the impact on learning. This authentic professional learning activity provides teachers with the opportunity to learn from their peers.