County Elementary School Earns National Title

Belle Grove Elementary School, with only 265 students, was named a National Title I Distinguished School for the 2014-2015 school year on Thursday.

The school in Linthicum Heights is one of Anne Arundel County’s smallest elementary schools and was honored for its sustained academic progress, according to a news release. Belle Grove Elementary is one of 38 schools across the country to be honored.

Title I is the largest federal aid program for school systems in the nation and it aims to assist schools in high-poverty areas. Over 87 percent of students at Belle Grove receive free and reduced-priced lunches.

“This is a tremendous honor not only for our school, but for our community,” Belle Grove Principle Tamara Kelly said. “The socioeconomic status of children should not be a barrier to them achieving greatness. Every day in our school we work to instill a sense of pride and belief in our children that they are in charge of their own destiny, and I am so very proud to be a part of a team that is helping to accomplish that for all of our children.”

The school receives about $450,000 in Title I funding and has used part of the money to hire math and reading intervention teachers and to fund parent outreach activities.

Over 84 percent of the school’s students in grades 3 through 5 scored proficient or advanced in the Maryland School Assessment in reading last year, and over 83 percent of students scored proficient or advanced in math.